Wheeling, W. Va. - Last season, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (4-9, 2-3) got their first sweep of the West Virginia State series since the 2018 season. On Sunday, they will look to sweep the series for the second year in a row as they hit the road to face Alderson Broaddus at 1 PM. The Cardinals picked up a road win earlier this year against Davis & Elkins and are looking to complete the road sweep in Phillipi, West Virginia.
Last time out, the Cardinals played a big Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) matchup as they went on the road to battle Lake Erie. In a game that would determine who gets the inside track to the GMAC Tournament, the Cardinals took the early lead with two first quarter goals. They had a 2-1 lead after that quarter, but five straight Lake Erie goals in the second sent the team into the locker room trailing 6-2. The Cardinals would be held to just five goals over the final two quarters of play and a seven goal attack for the Storm in the third was enough to down the Cardinals 19-7.
Despite the loss, the Cardinals had a big moment transpire as
Mike Andersson wrote his name in the program record books. He scored his 46th goal of the season, helping him to break the single-season goal record of 45, formerly held by Derek Downs in 2018. Andersson scored the one goal on the day and added two assists to lead the team with three goals on the day. Andersson currently leads the GMAC with an average of 3.50 goals per game and adds a conference-high 46 goals to his ledger. As the Cardinals look to stay alive in the GMAC playoff race, they will be looking for Andersson to lead their offensive effort.
On the defensive side,
Austin Hall has been putting in work over the last two weeks and put together another strong effort against Lake Erie. After setting the program record with 26 saves two weeks ago against Seton Hill, Hall came out strong again, finishing with 16 saves on 35 shots faced throughout the day for a save percentage of .490. After dealing with an injury over the last couple of weeks, the Cardinals got back one of their big enforcers in defenseman
Gabriel Hennin. Hennin leads the Cardinals with 17 Caused Turnovers this season and finished with one caused turnover and two groundballs against Lake Erie. Hennin has been a leader for the Cardinal's defense this season and looks to do so again on Sunday.
After the loss to Lake Erie last week, the Cardinals are still alive, but on the outside looking in for the GMAC tournament. They currently sit fifth in the GMAC standings and are one game out of a playoff spot with two games to go. The Cardinals need to win each of their last two games of the season and have Walsh lose each of their final two games against Seton Hill and Alderson Broaddus. If the Cardinals end in a tie with either Walsh or Lake Erie, they will lose out because of the head-to-head tie breaker. One more win will give the Cardinals their most wins since the 2018 season as continue to battle through these final two weeks of the regular season.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Battlers will be meeting for the 10th time in program history on Sunday, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 7-2. However, both of those losses have come on the road where the Cardinals are 3-2 in Phillipi, West Virginia. Wheeling is looking to even the recent series, having lost two of the last three contests while averaging 16.33 goals per game on the all-time series.
Last season, the Cardinals got the better of the Battlers at home, pulling off a 15-3 senior day win at Bishop Schmitt Field.
Mike Andersson led the way in that game, scoring seven goals and tying what was then the single-game scoring record.
Brody Fawver added three goals in the game while five other Cardinals added goals in the effort. Former Cardinal
Dallin Isaacson got the start in net and would make three saves on five shots faced.
The Details
The opening faceoff for Sunday's game is scheduled for 1 PM at The Multi Sports Performance Center on the campus of Alderson Broaddus. Check back for live coverage links throughout the day.
