West Liberty, W. Va. – It was the first edition of the annual "The Battle for Wheeling" on Sunday afternoon for doubleheader soccer action. The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (2-4-1, 0-3-1) kicked things off against the Hilltoppers and drew even with their rivals at a 3-3 score. It was the first tie of the season from the Cardinals as they earned their first point of the season towards the conference standings.
In the game's first half the Cardinals would hold the offensive advantage, out shooting the Hilltoppers 10-6. After three Hilltopper shots started the half, the Cardinals responded with three straight shots of their own, putting two of those on net. The fourth Cardinal shot of the half would find the back of the net as a foul in the box set up a Penalty Kick opportunity.
Mary DiFonzo would be the one to attempt the kick, and she shot the ball past the diving keeper to give Wheeling an early 1-0 lead. The Cardinals defense would take over there, forcing a couple of bad shots by the Hilltoppers and getting the ball back to the Cardinals offensive end. After getting a lot of work early in the half, making saves on the first three Hilltopper shots, she made one more save before the half was out and the Cardinals headed into the locker room leading 1-0.
West Liberty went into the locker room looking to create more offensive opportunities and they did just that over the game's final 45 minutes. They outshot the Cardinals 19-4 during that final 45-minute stretch, netting all three of their goals in that second half. However, Wheeling would get the half started after the teams traded the first two shots of the half. DiFonzo, who has been playing back due to injury, brought the ball up field and sent a pass to
Medina Doka. Doka took advantage, rocketing the ball into the bottom corner of the net, and Wheeling increased their lead to 2-0 with 35 minutes remaining on the second half clock. However, West Liberty responded with back to back goals in the 63rd and 64th minutes by Morgan Cost and Amelia Compston and it was a brand new game at 2-2.
The Cardinals nearly answered that goal in the 67th minute, as Doka sent a corner kick towards the net, but a save by West Liberty kept it a 2-2 affair. The final Cardinal shot of the second half came at the 73 minute mark as
Talynn DeBartolo brought the ball up the field and made some moves around the Hilltopper defense. She took her shot and scored her second goal of the game to put the Cardinals back on top 3-2. However, that would be Wheeling's final shot of the half as West Liberty possessed the ball for most of the game's final 15 minutes. They came through tying the game in the 83rd minute on a goal by Mia Zecla, and threatened with two more shots on net. However, Kqira made the save on both of those shots and when 90 minutes expired the game would end in a 3-3 draw.
Mary DiFonzo led the way for the Cardinals, leading the way with seven shots and tying for the team lead with two shots on goal. She added one of her team's three goals on the day and currently sits tied for the team lead with freshman
Nyah Smith with four goals.
Talynn DeBartolo finished behind her with four shots, two on goal, and her second goal of the year, while
Medina Doka gets on the scoresheet for the first time this season, taking two shots and putting one of those on net.
Olivia Kqira got the start in net and picked up her third double digit save game of the season, saving 10 of the 13 shots she faced for a .769 save percentage. The Cardinals earned their first point towards conference standings in the game and look to get back in the win column as they head towards Wednesday.
The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, September 27th, when the team takes on West Virginia State on the road at 6 PM.
