Wheeling, W. Va. – On a cold and windy day at Bishop Schmitt Field, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (2-4, 0-0) played host to Davenport in their final non-conference game before the start of Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) play next week. After falling behind in the first half, the Cardinals began a comeback run, but ended up falling just short as they fell to the Panthers 12-11. The Cardinals made it a one-point game and headed into a face-off with 14 seconds to go, but it just wouldn't be enough to get them back in the win column.

With just over a minute to play in the third quarter, the Cardinals were down 11-5 and looking for an answer to get back on the board. After a Davenport penalty gave Wheeling the ball back with 1:23 and Dakota Strong would bring the ball up the field. As the Cardinals set their offense, Brenner Chase would find Jacob Knippel in front of the net, and the junior capitalized to make it 11-6 with 58 seconds to go. That was Wheeling's first goal since the first quarter and got them back on track heading over the final 10 minutes. They carried that momentum into the fourth quarter as Wheeling got the ball back and Ty Taylor connected with Mike Andersson on a goal and all of a sudden it was an 11-7 game with 14:55 to go.

It would be Andersson that got back on the board again four minutes later, this time taking a pass from Dakota Strong, and it was suddenly a three-goal game. The Cardinals would continue to shoot throughout the half, outshooting the Panthers 8-@ over the first six minutes of play. That shooting would pay off again as Jacob Knippel notched his third goal of the game and put Wheeling on a run of four unanswered goals. Off the next face-off, Ty Taylor nearly made it five goals in a row, but a big save killed the posession. It would remain an 11-9 game until the 3:52 mark of the quarter. Davenport would score a big insurance goal at the 3:12 mark to make it a 12-9 affair. The Cardinals responded quickly with Taylor's third goal of the season at the 2:40 mark and it was once again a two-goal game. 

There would not be another shot taken by either team over the next two and a half minutes and the score remained 12-10 with 39 seconds to play. After a conduct penalty on Davenport with 20 seconds to go, Wheeling got the ball and was set up to make a run. Jake Wodarek would bring the ball up the field and in six seconds made it to the net to score the 11th goal of the nifht with 14 seconds to go, it was 12-11 and Owen Worley was faced with a tough face-off that could set Wheeling up for a chance to tie the game. However, the Panthers would end up winning the face-off and holding off the Cardinals push as Wheeling fell 12-11 to drop to 2-4 during their non-conference schedule.

The Cardinals were led by a pair of three goal efforts from Jacob Knippel and Ty Taylor. Taylor added two assists to lead the way with five points on the day and was efficient putting all six of his shots on net. Jacob Knippel led the team with nine shots take. On the day, three on net, but scored in all three ogGis shots on net. Mike Andersson was the other multi-goal scorer for the Cardinals, finishing with two goals, and tied for the team lead with two assists. Jake Wodarek, Brenner Chase, and Dylan Lavern would add on the final three goals of the day. After allowing 11 goals through the first three quarters, Austin Hall played a big role in the Cardinals comeback in net. He finished the night with 17 sa es on 29 shots faced to round out the day.

In the early going, Wheeling had their offense going with five goals over the first 10 minutes. There were a flurry of goals in the first minute of the game as Davenport got things started with a goal 35 seconds in. After Davenport won the ensuing faceoff, Wheeling would get the ball back and got on the board before the minute was over. Wodarek Rock the ball up the field for wheeling and found Taylor in front of the net for his first goal of the day to tie things at 1-1. Davenport would take a 2-1 lead with just under 10 minutes to go in the quarter, but Dylan Lavern scored his first goal of the day to tie it at 2-2 with 8:52 to go in the quarter. Taylor, Knippel, and Chase each added goals before the quarter ended and Wheeling led 5-3. Wheeling would be shutout in the second and most of the third quarter before Wheeling mounted the comeback.

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, March 18th, when they open GMAC play against Walsh at noon.