Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (2-6, 0-3) began a stretch that will see them at home for six of their final seven games on Tuesday when they hosted #13 Seton Hill. The Cardinals gave them a run for their money early on, outscoring the Griffins 3-2 over the first 10 minutes. However, it wasn't enough as the Cardinals fell to the Griffins 20-6, but showed that they can compete with the best-of-the-best that the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) has to offer. 

Entering play, the Cardinals has scored first in five of their first seven games of the season and they kept that trend going against the Griffins. After the teams battled for possession over the first two minutes of play, the Cardinals would get the ball in the offensive zone. Ty Taylor would get the ball in his stick behind the net, and found an open Brenner Chase for the first goal of the day, it was the start of a big run for Taylor, who would get three total points in the first ten minutes of play. The Cardinals held a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game, but after winning the next face-off, Seton Hill would tie the game at 1-1. After scoring a second goal to make it 2-1 at the 11:19 mark, the Cardinal's defense would lock down over the next 11 minutes.  

Alex Hall and the Cardinal's defense would lock down, not allowing another Griffin goal for the rest of the period. They would face eight shots from the Griffins, with Hall making five saves on those eight shots. He saved 83.3% of those shots during that first period as he helped set his team up for success. The defense also saw success in front of the net, forcing seven turnovers, while causing four, over the first ten minutes. Dylan Rosser, Jack Rowe, Adam Zdanowicz, and Ty Taylor would all cause turnovers during the quarter allowing the Cardinal's offense to outshoot the Griffins 9-8 in the quarter and get the lead back on their side. 

After falling behind 2-1, The Cardinals would tie the game after Dakota Strong took a shot that was saved at the 8:52 mark. Seton Hill's Will Cody would then try to clear the ball, but Taylor got in there and caused a turnover that gave him the ball right in front of the net. He would finish the job, sneaking the ball past Cody to make it a 2-2 game with 8:31 to go in the quarter. The game would remain tied at 2-2 until the final minute and a half of play after a Hall save resulted in a successful clear attempt. The Cardinals would bring the ball into their offensive zone. Taylor would captain the effort again as he connected with Mike Andersson to give Wheeling a 3-2 lead. They would hold that lead until the quarter's end and would head into the second quarter with that same 3-2 lead. They would add one more goal before the half, courtesy of Mike Andersson, but an eight goal quarter would give Seton Hill a 10-4 lead heading into the half. 

The third quarter would see the Griffins build the lead with six unanswered goals and the two teams would head into the fourth quarter with a 16-4 lead. Seton Hill would move to a 19-4 lead before the Cardinals got back on the board with four minutes to go. Owen Worley would pick up a ground ball and help the Cardinals to a successful clear. Chase would get the ball again and found Jacob Knippel for his first assist of the day to pick up Wheeling's fifth goal. The final Cardinals goal would come from a defense-to-defense connection. Wilson Perez-Vasquez would cause a turnover and Worley picked up the groundball. Worley would move it into the offensive zone and found Perez-Vasquez for the sixth and final goal of the day. It was Perez-Vasquez's second career goal as Seton Hill added one more goal to bring the game to its final score of 20-6. 

The Cardinals were led on the day by Ty Taylor, who finished with one goal and two assists to total three points on the day. He was part of all three of the Cardinal's goals during the big first quarter as he continues to be an assist machine for the Cardinals with 18 assists this season as he holds the top spot in the GMAC in assists. Mike Andersson would be the Cardinal's leading goal scorer, finishing with two goals, as he hits the multi-goal mark for the 10th consecutive game. The other Cardinal goals came from Wilson Perez-Vasquez, Jacob Knippel, and Brenner Chase to round out the day. Austin Hall would finish with 20 saves on 42 total shots, while Owen Worley led the way with three caused turnovers. 

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, March 23rd, when they host Thomas More at 3 PM.