Wheeling, W. Va. – Throughout the 2024 season, the offense has played a big role in the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team's (5-7, 3-4) surge towards the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Tournament. It was that offense that once again led the way in what was a back-and-forth game for the Cardinals as they outlasted Malone 21-20 Wednesday night at Bishop Schmitt Field. It was a season-high scoring effort for the Cardinals as they battled back from being down several times to pick up the win and dropped their magic number to two to clinch a playoff spot.
Entering the fourth quarter of play, the Cardinals found themselves behind, trailing 18-16 and needing to make a push late. It didn't take them long to get that point as a pair of Malone penalties at the 13:41 mark set the Cardinals back on offense. Jack Rowe, who would lead the Cardinals with eight points on the day, once again had the ball in his stick. He would find Brenner Chase in front of the net, and he converted to make it an 18-17 game. A Gabriel Hennin caused turnover would lead to the next Cardinal goal as Ty Taylor would tie the game at the 11:30 mark at 18-18. The Cardinals would make it three consecutive possessions with a goal as another caused turnover opened the door, this time for Rowe, who would convert the goal and give Wheeling a 19-18 lead.
They would score their fourth consecutive goal at the 8:05 mark of the quarter as another caused turnover, this time courtesy of Alex Hall, got the Cardinals back on offense. Hall would fire the ball to fellow defender Gage Kimmel, who found Mike Andersson in front of the net for the goal that gave Wheeling a 20-18 lead. However, Malone was not ready to back down, and would score the next two goals to make it a 20-20 game with three minutes showing on the clock. Malone threatened to add another goal with 2:22 to go, sending a shot off the crossbar, but an errant pass gave Wheeling the ball back. Rowe would take the first shot, sending it wide and picked up his own ground ball. It bounced around in front of the net, before falling into the stick of Jacob Knippel. Knippel would take the shot and converted it into a goal as the Cardinals took a 21-20 lead. A big save from Hall with 19 seconds to go would thwart a Malone comeback opportunity and the Cardinals went on to win 21-20.
It was a big day for Jack Rowe, who led the Cardinals with eight total points, scoring six goals and two assists in the effort. For Rowe, it was a new career-high in both points and goals in a game and helped get the Cardinals going early. He scored the team's first goal of the game at the 11:36 mark and assisted on the fourth goal in a 56 second span as the Cardinals took a 4-0 lead. He would finish with three of those eight points in the first quarter as the Cardinals took a 6-3 lead after 15 minutes of play. It would also be a night of firsts for Hennin, who helped lead the defense with two caused turnovers while scoring the first goal of his collegiate career. Hennin would start the second with a goal and the Cardinals took a 7-3 lead with 14:31 to go before the half. However, Malone would outscore Wheeling 10-5 in the quarter, and turned the game on its head, taking a 13-11 lead heading into the half. Rowe would add three more points in the quarter as the Cardinals tried to battle back in the third.
After scoring two goals in the first half, Andersson came out strong again in the second half and would finish with four goals and one assist to total five points on the day. He would add one goal and one assist in that third quarter, as he continued his hot showing on the field. Dakota Strong would finish with two goals on the day and started the second half with both of those goals. He got things started with an unassisted goal that made it 13-12, and eventually gave Wheeling the lead, taking a pass from Andersson for his second goal of the night. Brenner Chase would find the net with 49 seconds to go to make it a 17-16 game before Malone made it 18-16 just 15 seconds later, leading to the exciting fourth quarter finish.
The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, April 20th, when they celebrate senior day against Virginia State University with opening face-off at 2 PM.
