Grand Rapids, MI. – After playing their home opener a week ago, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (2-1, 0-0) started a road trip that will see them play three of their next four away from Bishop Schmitt Field. They hit the road for the first of those three games on Saturday as they fell to Davenport 11-10. The offense got into double digits for the third straight game, as the Cardinals took their first loss of 2024.

Wheeling would win the opening face-off and quickly moved into the offensive zone as Dylan Lavern took the first shot of the night. However, it would be Davenport that got on the board first as Braylon Baker put the ball in the back of the net. The Cardinals continued their barrade of shots and the third would find the back of the net. After a Davenport penalty, Mike Andersson got the ball and moved up the field He would put the first of three goals into the back of the net and the Cardinals tied the game at 1-1. The Cardinals continued to control the time of possession and five minutes later they took their first lead of the day. After Andersson had a shot saved, Brenner Chase would follow with a shot of his own that found the back of the net and made it a 2-1 Cardinal lead.

That would be the score at the end of the first quarter, but the Panthers would come back in quarter #2. They would tie the game at 2-2 with 12:16 to go in the half , but less than a minute later the Cardinals would respond. John Zaramba picked up a face-off win that got the Cardinals the ball back and Jack Rowe would find the back of the net and the Cardinals got ahead 3-2 with 11:26 to go. Davenport would take the control back over the next four minutes and scored three unanswered goals to make it a 5-3 game with 7:30 to go. The Cardinals would get right back at it, rattling off three straight shots, before Adam Smellie found Andersson in front of the net. Andersson would score his second goal of the night and the Cardinals cut the lead to 5-4. Their final goal of the half would come on a Davenport own goal, assisted by Ty Taylor, and the Cardinals headed into halftime tied at 5-5.
As the second half started, the back and forth between the two teams continued as they flipped back and forth on offense.

Davenport would get the first goal of the half at the 9:28 mark of the third quarter and took a 6-5 lead before Wheeling responded. As the clock ticked past the eight minute mark, Dakota Strong would pick up a ground ball that got the Cardinals back on offense. He would pass the ball to Lavern, who dished it to Andersson in front of the net. Andersson would complete the hat tricks with his third goal of the night and he tied the game at 6-6. However, it would be Davenport that scored the final three goals of the quarter and built a 9-6 lead. With the final 10 minutes ahead of them, the Cardinals offense would turn on as they tried to complete the comeback.

Davenport would continue the offense into the fourth quarter, scoring their tenth goal of the night at the 9:49 mark. The Cardinals would start their comeback as they earned a Man-Up opportunity with seven minutes to play. Jack Rowe would get the ball and moved it into the offensive zone and found Ty Taylor. Taylor would convert on his first goal of the night and made it a 10-7 game. After Zaramba one the ensuing face-off Rowe had the ball again and this time found Adam Smellie. Smellie scored his first goal of the night and the Cardinals had cut the lead to 10-8. Chase would score the Cardinal's third straight goal with 4:51 to go and the score sat at 10-9. Davenport would add one more goal on their following possession and Chase would score his third goal to round out the scoring to bring the game to an 11-10 final score.

Leading the way for the Cardinals were a pair of three-goal scorers in Mike Andersson and Brenner Chase. Andersson would be the Cardinal's top shooter on the night, putting five of his eight shots on net as he continues his strong season. Chase was the Cardinal's most efficient shooter on the night, putting all four of his shots on net and converting three goals on the night. The other scorers for the Cardinals were Jack Rowe (2) and Ty Taylor (1) as they rounded out the night. Adam Smellie led the way with two assists while Ty Taylor added another on the day. Adam Zdanowicz led the defense with two caused turnovers, while Austin Hall made 14 saves in net to round out the day.

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, February 24th, when they hit the road to face Frostburg State with the opening face-off at 1 PM.