Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (0-3, 0-2) opened up a three-game home stretch on Saturday at Bishop Schmitt Field. That stretch continues on Wednesday night when the Cardinals play host to Salem University with kick-off at 7:30 PM. It is the first of two meetings between the two teams as part of Salem's Non-conference agreement with the Mountain East Conference (MEC) and the Cardinals are hoping to secure their first win of the season before resuming their MEC schedule on Sunday.

Last time out, the Cardinals opened their home schedule with a non-conference showing against The University of Findlay. Through the first 45 minutes of play, the Cardinals kept things close, allowing just two goals before halftime. The Cardinals took two shots during that first half, but neither found the net as they tried to create more goal scoring opportunities in the second half. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned as the Oilers tacked on six more goals in the second half before going on to win the match 8-0. The Cardinals did get off more shots in that second half, with six shots and two on goal, but were unable to get on the board for the first time this season.

Leading the Cardinals through the first three games of the 2023 season has been junior defender TJ Cherry, who has stepped up as both the leader of the defense and as a shooter. He leads the Cardinals so far with three shots, two on goal, and has scored one of the team's two goals this season. That goal came in the opener against the University of Charleston when he scored on a corner kick in the game's second minute. Over his first two seasons in a Cardinal's uniform, Cherry has been the team's center back, leading the back line of the defense. In his junior season, he is showing his versatility on offense and looks to help get the Cardinal's offense going as they continue their non-conference stretch.

Leading the way in net for the Cardinals this season has been junior Carlos Molina, who has got the start in net for two of the three games so far this season. In his two starts, he has made six saves on five shots faced for a .545 save percentage. All six of those saves came in the season opener against the University of Charolette, as Molina helped keep Wheeling within striking distance of the #2 team in the nation. Molina and his defensive unit look to get back to work against Salem and limit the Tigers as they prepare to jump back into MEC play.

While it hasn't been the start that the team has wanted so far, they have been close in two of their three games. In both conference contests, the team has lost by two goals or less, and are looking for that key goal late in the game. With this non-conference test against Salem, the Cardinals are looking to get their offense going before they jump back into the conference schedule. After this three-game home stretch, the Cardinals will hit the road for three straight to end the month of September in what was a road heavy month for the Cardinals. They look to take advantage of their home field during this stretch and right the ship before they hit the road to end the month of September with three straight road games.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting for the 13th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series with a record of 8-3-1. It will be the eighth all-time meeting in Wheeling between the two teams, with Wheeling leading the series with a record of 4-3. However, it will be the first time the two teams are meeting at Bishop Schmitt Field with their last match coming back in 2014. In that game, the Cardinals would fall to the Tigers in a 3-2 game and Wheeling is looking for their first win against the Tigers since 2009.


In that game, the Cardinals were led by a pair of goal scorers with former Cardinals Jordan Frommeyer and Luke Roan scoring the goals. Former Cardinal Cody Thompson got the start in net and ended up making three saves on six shots faced in the loss.

The Details

Kick-off for Wednesday night's game is scheduled for 7:30 PM at Bishop Schmitt Field. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.