Wheeling, W. Va. – The 2023 regular season is winding down for the Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (1-12-2, 0-10-2) as they begin to wrap up the season. They hit the road for the final time in 2023 on Sunday when they take on Davis & Elkins at 7 PM. The Cardinals look to continue their growth on the field and prepare for what the future will look like in 2024 and beyond.

It has been an up and down season for Wheeling Men's soccer, but they have been able to keep themselves in pretty much every game that they have had and always have had positives to take away from the games. That didn't stop with Wednesday's game against Frostburg State where they unfortunately lost 4-2, but they still had a lot of positives. Richard Afolayanka continued to stay hot with a goal and an assist in the game. Afolayanka now leads the team with three goals this season, with all three of those goals coming in the last two games. The Uniondale, New York native has led the Cardinals in goals in each of his four seasons and looks to continue that trend as he rounds out his career in 2023.

Wheeling will be going up Davis and Elkins on Sunday who they have already played this season and this will be the 23rd all-time meeting between these two schools dating back to 2002 when they first played each other. Davis and Elkins has the edge all time winning 12 of the 22 matchups with seven ties. This should be a fairly good matchup with the one earlier in the season being close, with Davis & Elkins picking up a 3-1 victory. In that game, Julio D'Lima picked up his first collegiate goal for the Cardinals while Austin Aaron made three saves on six shots faced.

Wheeling will continue to lean on Richard Afolayanka who has been on fire in his last two games where he has three goals and an assist. He has been huge for this soccer team and, while being held to just one assist through the first 13 games of the season, he has found his groove and doesn't seem like he will stop anytime soon. Wheeling will also look for strong goaltending and that is what they have gotten when Carlos Molina starts. The junior Maturing, Spain native is rocking a 2.78 GAA and a 0.627 SV% which was showcased on the game against Notre Dame where he was lights out, setting a career-high with 11 saves on 14 shots faced.

Davis and Elkins is a very well balanced soccer team with four players having two or more goals on the season. Johan Magana leads the way with four goals on the season and one assist, so Wheeling will need to keep their heads on a swivel when he is on the field. The real glue that holds this team together is the goaltending with Grant Wyles having an insane 1.00 GAA and a 0.812 SV%, so if Wheeling wants a chance at winning they are going to have to figure out how to beat this goalie. He has only allowed multiple goals in three of his 13 starts this season as the Cardinals offense tries to find their way around him.

Kick-off for Sunday's game is scheduled for 7 PM at Nuttall Field on the campus of Davis & Elkins. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.