Wheeling, W. Va. - The offense came in bunches for the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (3-6, 1-3) on Saturday afternoon as they welcomed Thomas More into Bishop Schmitt Field. Eight different players would get in on the action, scoring at least one goal, as the Cardinals took down Thomas More 20-3. It was a season-high scoring effort for the Cardinals as they picked up an all-important first Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) win of the 2024 season.
After Thomas More's Stephen Schodwoski won the opening faceoff, a turnover got the ball in the Cardinal's sticks. Once it was there, the Cardinals would not give it up as they held the ball for just under two minutes, taking three shots. The final of those three starts would be from Ty Taylor, who netted the first goal of the afternoon to give Wheeling a 1-0 lead at the 11:46 mark of the quarter. It started what would be a big day for Taylor, who would lead the team with five goals and two assists on the day to finish with seven points. Four of those five goals would come in the first half, with the other three coming as part of a three-goal streak to start the second quarter as he helped Wheeling push out to a 9-1 lead. Taylor is the GMAC's leader in assists this season with 20, and after today's effort now leads the Cardinals with 33 points on the year.
The Cardinals scored six goals in the first quarter by five players as they held a 6-1 advantage after one quarter of play. The only person to score multiple goals in the quarter was Mike Andersson, who got on the board for the first time at the 5:33 mark. He would take a pass from Brody Fawver, and put it in the back of the net to give Wheeling a 5-0 lead. After a caused turnover by Adam Zdanowicz, the Cardinals would get a successful clear and this time it would be Brenner Chase to connect with Andersson for the Cardinal's sixth goal of the day. Andersson would be the team's goal leader in the effort, finishing with four goals and four points on the day. He would take seven shots, putting four of those on goal, while adding three groundballs to round out his effort. The senior now has 26 goals on the season and sits 16 goals away from the 150 mark for his career.
Andersson and Taylor would rule the second quarter, accounting for five of the eight goals as Wheeling went on a run. Between the second and third quarters, the Cardinals would score 11 unanswered goals during that time and led 14-1 at halftime and 16-1 entering the fourth quarter. During the run, the Cardinal's starters got their share of goals, with Jack Rowe reaching his second hat trick of the season. He would finish with three goals and one assist, to put four points on the board as he continues his hot streak. He has now scored nine goals over his past four games, including five and three. Jacob Knipple would add his second multi-goal effort of the season, finishing with two goals and two assists (four points) while Dakota Strong would score two goals of his own to add two points.
With the lead on their side, the Cardinals subbed in some of their younger guys during the fourth quarter, and they put together some big moments of their own. After Thomas More started the quarter with back-to-back goals to make it 16-3, Knipple would score his second goal of the night to break the string at the 5:49 mark. On the next faceoff, Domenico Cataldo got the win and set the Cardinals up once again. Freshman Ryder McCall would get the ball in his stick and made a move around the defense to score his first collegiate goal as it pushed the Cardinal advantage to 18-3. Owen Doyle would round out the scoring with 1:26 to go, picking up his first goal since putting up four against Holy Family to bring the game to it's final score of 20-3.
There was one more first in the final seconds of the game on defense after a big day from Austin Hall. Hall would play 48 minutes of action in net, making four saves on six shots faced, before being pulled for freshman Mason Fisher, who was making his first collegiate appearance in net. Fisher allowed one goal with 9:30 to play, but in the final seconds he would pick up his first collegiate save. The shot was delivered with five seconds to play from Thomas More's Spencer Lethbridge, and Fisher was able to tip the ball away to finish with one save on two shots faced. In front of the net, the Cardinals were led by Wilson Perez-Vasquez and Adam Zdanowicz, who finished with four caused turnovers each. Zdanowicz added seven groundballs on the day, finishing second only to Taylor, who picked up eight. Domenico Cataldo had a strong day on face-offs, winning 11 of 23 faceoffs for his highest win percentage of the season.
The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action following the easter break on Tuesday, April 2nd, when they hit the road to face Mercyhurst with opening face-off at 4 PM.
