Wheeling, W. Va. - Over the last three weeks, the Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (4-9, 3-7) has been battling through the Mountain East Conference (MEC) South portion of their schedule. On Wednesday, they begin the final push for the MEC Tournament as they hit the road to face Point Park at 3 PM. The Cardinals currently sit third in the North Division, holding a four-point advantage for tournament positioning and a one-point lead over West Liberty for the #3 spot.
Last time out, the Cardinals wrapped up their MEC South stretch when they welcomed in Glenville State to Bishop Schmitt Field. The offense came fast and furious, with the Cardinals needing just six minutes to get on the board to get things started. Just as early as the Cardinals took the lead, Glenville State took it back with three goals in the span of seven minutes, and the lead was flipped to 3-1 in favor of Glenville State. The teams would head into the halftime break with the same score standing at 3-1. In the final 45 minutes of play, the Cardinals would hold the shot advantage at 9-5 and were able to put five of those nine shots on net. However, the four early goals would be the only ones scored in the game as the Cardinals fell to 3-7 in the conference with the 3-1 defeat.
The Cardinal's quick strike offense was fueled by an early push from freshman Lily Hanna, who put her sixth goal of the season into the back of the net. It was the first of several scoring chances for the freshman, who finished with a team-high six shots taken, putting five of those on net. She sits second on the team in both goals (6) and assists (2), while also sitting one point behind the team lead with 14. It was the fourth time this season that Hanna has taken six or more shots in a game, and she was efficient with five of those shots landing on net. She leads the team with 28 shots on goal this season and has the highest shot on goal percentage on the team at 52.8%. She looks to continue to provide an offensive spark for the team as the season goes on and they chase down a tournament spot.
Sam Faulkner would make her first start of the season for the Cardinals, and had a strong day in net. She finished with six saves on nine shots faced, and was tested early with two of those saves coming in the first five minutes of play. Of her six saves on the day, two came during the second half as she was able to keep Glenville State off the board and give the Cardinals a chance to battle back in the game. The Cardinal's defense as a whole has gone through some changes over the last several weeks, but the Cardinals have continued to hold strong. Maya Munoz has moved into a starting role in recent weeks, while Ainslie Reuben and Tayler Wells have each also played predominant roles. As they continue down the stretch, they will be looking to the defense to pace them during the season.
As they enter the final three weeks of the season, the Cardinals currently hold on to the #3 spot in the MEC North Division, holding a one-point lead over West Liberty and a four-point lead over Point PArk for the final two MEC Tournament spots. As of now, the Cardinals control their own destiny, if they are able to continue to win games. With four conference games remaining, The Cardinals magic number to clinch a playoff spot is three, with any combination of three Cardinal wins or three Point Park losses clinches Wheeling one of the four MEC Tournament spots. A win on Wednesday would go a long way towards clinching them one of those playoff spots as they try to make their first tournament appearance since the 2022 season.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Pioneers will be meeting for the third time in program history and the second time this season. Wheeling leads the all-time series with a record of 2-0, including a 1-0 record all-time on the road. The Cardinals have scored two or more goals in each of the previous two meetings, with an average of 4.0 goals per game all-time. The Cardinals look to push their win streak against the Pioneers to three games as they hit the road.
In their first meeting of the year, Wheeling picked up a 2-0 win over the Pioneers on September 15th. The Cardinals were led by Lily Hanna and Nyah Smith, who each finished with a goal, while Tayler Wells and Graceylyn Hanna each picked up assists on the day. Olivia Kqira would get the start in net, and made one save on one shot faced to round out the effort.
The Details
Kick-off for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 3 PM inside Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
