Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (0-0, 0-0) opens up the 2023 season on Thursday when they host Lincoln University at Bishop Schmitt Field with kick-off at  1 PM. Thursday's matchup will be a special one not only because it is the first game of the season and the first time that Wheeling has played Lincoln, but because head coach Emmanuel Awotula was at Lincoln for six years, so he is looking to beat his old team. The Cardinals are also going to be looking for their first season opening win since the 2021 season when they defeated Lake Erie College.

The 2022 season was the best for the Women's Soccer program since the 2018 season, when the team finished with an identical 6-11-1 record overall. However, the Cardinals did post their best conference mark since joining the Mountain East Conference (MEC) back in 2013, going 6-9-1. The team made a goal at the beginning of the season to be one of the top four teams in the conference by season's end and hung around that mark for the entirety of the regular season. It came down to one final battle against West Liberty, and the Cardinals held on for a 3-2 victory to clinch their first-ever MEC Tournament bid. They would take on #1 seeded Frostburg State in the first round and battled, before falling by the 4-0 final score.

The one player to watch out for in this matchup will be midfielder Mary DiFonzo who ended the season with All-MEC honors and led the team in goals eight goals and seven assists which was tied with former Cardinal Braedynn Porter. The Cardinals lost two of their top three scorers from last season, so Mary will be one of the leaders on this team and she will get plenty of opportunities to chip in offensively. Joining her will be a pair of returning forwards in junior Talynn DeBartolo and sophomore Medina Doka, who each had career years in 2022 with DeBartolo scoring five goals and Doka adding three goals of her own.

The goaltending situation is of particular interest with Junior Sam Faulkner and Senior Olivia Kqira who have been battling for the starting position. Faulkner split time with former Cardinal goalkeeper Mikayla Yarwood last season, and performed well with a .676 save percentage in just over 239 minutes in net. Kqira was the starting goalkeeper for Alderson Broaddus last season, making 17 starts for the Battlers while compiling a .747 save percentage. Both goalies finished last season with a .676 save percentage or higher and the competition in camp has been strong. Awotula said the battle is coming down to the last day and that both will have a shot to be the starter for the Cardinals this season.

As the team enters 2023, there goals continue to grow after last year's MEC Tournament run. Awotula wants his team to not only make the MEC Tournament, but to be competitive in the tournament. With several returners to this season's roster, the Cardinals have the experience and the personnel, while also bringing in a strong freshman class who will be vying for minutes. With six freshman and the two Alderson Broaddus transfers joining this year's team, the Cardinals will use these first two games to prepare for what they will face in conference play. Both Lincoln and Malone offer different challenges for the team and they will use those games to prepare for their conference slate.
 
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Lions will be meeting for the first time in program history when they meet up on Thursday afternoon. Lincoln had a season that they probably would like to forget where they only won one game and struggled to score goals. The Cardinals will look to take advantage of this on defense and get a big win for coach Awotula.

The Details
Kick-off for Thursday afternoon's game is scheduled for 1 PM at Bishop Schmitt Field. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.