Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (2-0, 0-0) played at home for the first time in 2024 on Sunday when they hosted Holy Family University. For the second game in a row, the Cardinal's offense surpassed the 15-goal mark as they took down Holy Family University 20-1. The Cardinals had three different players finish the night with four goals and a total of nine different players get in on the scoring effort.

It would be one of those four goal scorers who got things started as Owen Doyle got the Cardinals on the board at the 11:16 mark of the first quarter. The Cardinal's offense brought the ball behind the net and Ty Taylor would connect with Doyle for the game opening goal. It was Doyle's lone goal of the first half, but his team put up 15 points over the first 30 minutes and headed into the locker room with a 15-1 halftime lead. In the second half, Doyle would really get going, notching goal #2 at the 11:26 mark of the third quarter to make it a 16-1 game. It was the first of three goals for Doyle as he took a pass from freshman Ryder McCall, who picked up his first career assist, and found the back of the net just minutes later to make it 17-1. He rounded out his career-high effort to start the fourth quarter as he hit a breakaway and made it 18-1 at the 12:28 mark of the fourth quarter.

In the game's first half, the offense was led by senior Mike Andersson, who put in three of his four goals in that first half. After Doyle got things started, Andersson was right behind him as Taylor assisted on his second goal of the day when Andersson converted on goal #1 to make it 2-0. Andersson pi led up his first assist on the fifth goal of the day and was back on the board with 54 seconds to go. Jacob Knippel would loop around the net and hit Andersson for his second goal of the day. After the first quarter break, Andersson was right back at it as he took another pass, this time from Dakota Strong. He would once again find the back of the net, for his third goal of the day to make it a 7-0 game. His final goal of the day was in the second half as he tallied the first goal of the half and made it a 15-1 game.

The final four-goal scorer of the day put in goal #4 of the day as Brenner Chase took advantage of a Man-Up opportunity. He hit the break away and was able to work past the goalkeeper to make it a 3-0 affair. His second goal came on another unassisted play at the 13:24 mark of the second quarter. After the Cardinals won a faceoff, Chase set up the offense and drove towards the net as he found the back of the net for the second time on the day. His final two goals would both come in that second quarter as he was back on the board three goals later. Taylor assisted on Chase's third goal of the day at the 7:08 mark as he found the right corner of the net, and his final goal would be his third unassisted goal of the night as he made it a 13-0 Cardinal advantage right before the half.

Along with the big days, the Cardinals also had a few Cardinals get some firsts in their collegiate careers. The first first came in the fourth quarter, as Head Coach Gage Bradshaw got to dip into his bench. There were two firsts in one play as defenseman Adam Zdanowicz brought the ball into the offensive zone. He found Mason Fisher, who made a move around the defense and found the back of the net for his first collegiate goal. On the same play, Zdanowicz also picked up his first career assist as the Cardinals went up 19-1 with 4:39 to play. The final goal of the day was a collegiate first as another defenseman, Wilson Perez-Vasquez converted the clear and kept on running. He would go all the way and scored his first collegiate goal to make it 20-1. It would be the final goal of the night as the Cardinals picked up the win.

Along with the three players who scored four goals, the Cardinals had a total of five multi-goal scorers on the night. Dylan Lavern and Brody Fawver each had two goals on the night. Ty Taylor led the way with three assists and ups his season total to eight assists in two games played. Rounding out the offense was Taylor, Dakota Strong, Wilson Perez-Vasquez, and Mason Fisher each had a goal on the day. Austin Hall got the party in net and handled the limited work he saw on the day, finishing with seven saves on eight shots faced on the day. The defense forced several turnovers throughout the day with five different players finished with two caused turnovers. Adam Zdanowicz, Gabriel Henning, Owen Worley, Owen Doyle, and Nate Castner each added two caused turnovers.

The Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, February 17th, when they hit the road to face Davenport at 1 PM.