Charleston, W. Va. – The Mountain East Conference (MEC) women's soccer schedule rolled on Saturday as the Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (3-8, 2-6) made their way to Charleston, West Virginia. Wheeling would only get one goal on the day, but couldn't slow down a potent Charleston offense as they fell 9-1. Wheeling was efficient on the day, putting three of their five shots on net, but they just didn't have enough offensive opportunities to keep up with the Golden Eagles.
Charleston was staked to a 5-0 lead by halftime and as the game crept into the 77th minute, that lead was pushed to 8-0 in favor of Charleston. The Golden Eagles began to make substitutions, taking all of their starters out of the game and bringing in their bench players a minute before. The Cardinals would take advantage of this change, putting together their second offensive opportunity of the half. After the substitutions, the Cardinals got the ball in the 77th minute and drove up the field. Theresa Markwei pushes the ball into the offensive zone and found Senior
Talynn DeBartolo. Once she got the ball on her foot and made her move on the outside, She sent the shot on net. It found its way to the back corner and the Cardinals were in the board making it 8-1.
It was DeBartolo's third goal of the season and her third goal in the team's last six games. She has become a more and more integral part of the Cardinal offense, using her speed on the outside to set up chances. For Markwei, it was her first career assist for the Cardinals, after she has made an adjustment, playing up over the last three games as opposed to back on defense. The change has helped generate some more offense for the Cardinals as they continue to grow on the field. Markwei would also add a shot on the day, putting it on net, while the other shot on net came from
Nyah Smith.
Mary DiFonzo would get off the final shot of the day, ending the Cardinal's attack efforts. In net,
Olivia Kqira would make five saves while
Sam Faulkner added two saves in the effort.
Throughout the game, the Golden Eagles held a distinct shot advantage, outshooting the Cardinals 25-5 in the game including a 15-3 mark in the first half. However, as they have over the last couple of games, it was Wheeling that came out strong with DiFonzo taking the first shot of the day at the game's 1:13 mark. Markwei would add the first Wheeling shit on goal of the day in the ninth minute, but by the 20 minute mark Charleston has already amassed a 4-0 advantage. They would add one more goal before the half and added another goal just 30 minutes into the new half. Wheeling's final shot on goal before the score came from Smith in the 47th minute, but a save from Sofia Chaverra would end the Cardinal threat.
The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, October 16th, when the team hits the road to face West Virginia Wesleyan with kick-off at 7 PM.
