Wheeling, W. Va. - It was a special day for the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse program (6-7, 3-4) as they honored their group of seven seniors that helped bring the program back from the lowest of lows. This group has improved their record every single year and has the team in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) playoff contention for the first time since 2018. The team responded in a big way, as they took down Virginia State University in non-conference action with a 27-6 win, scoring the most goals in a single game this season and the most goals they have scored in a game since they put up 29 goals against D'Youville a season ago.

It was a huge day for senior Mike Andersson, who made history while leading the team with seven goals, while adding three assists and 10 total points on the night. He would net two of those goals in the first quarter of the game, and at the 1:22 mark he was able to make history. He took a pass from Jack Rowe, and converted his second goal of the day to make it a 9-0 affair. With the goal, Andersson scored the 150th goal of his career, becoming the first player to reach the 150 goal plateau since Derek Downs back in 2018. Of his seven goals on the day, four of those came in the first half of play. His seven goals was a new season-high and placed him just three goals shy of the single-game goal record of 10, which he set at Malone last season.

Finishing behind Andersson was Ty Taylor, who had a strong game in his own right finishing with four goals and three assists to total seven points on the day. Taylor would score his first goal of the day at the 10:16 mark of the first quarter and was a goal scorer throughout the first half of play. All four of his goals, and two of his assists came during the first quarter as the Cardinals built a 19-2 lead over the first 30 minutes of play. Taylor has been a leader for the Cardinals all season long and was once again a strong point for the Cardinals today. Jack Rowe also continued his recent string of success, posting six points, three goals and three assists, on the day for the Cardinals. It was the second straight game that Rowe has finished with six or more points, and he assisted on the goal that got Andersson to the 150 career goal mark.

It was a big day all around for the seniors, with all of the offensive players netting at least one goal or assist on the day.  Along with Andersson's seven goal effort, Brody Fawver (4 Goals), Jacob Knippel (2 Goals), and Adam Smellie (2 Assists) all factored into the scoring on the day. For Fawver, his four goals were a career high as he scored three of those in the first half. He got going at the 6:20 mark of the first quarter and continued to find his shot throughout the day. Knippel was the one who got the scoring started just 20 seconds into the game and finished with two goals of his own to round out his senior day. Adam Smellie would assist on that first goal of the day and added one more assist to round out the day. Along with the senior goals, the Cardinals also saw a pair of first career goals as Broccan Casey and Anthony Clinton each scored their first career goals on the day.

On the defensive end, Austin Hall had another strong day in net, finishing with 10 saves on 15 shots faced for a .667 save percentage. It was the continuation of another strong season for goalkeeper as he sits second in the GMAC with 185 saves and sits second with a .535 save percentage. The defense in front of him played well too as Justin Stewart led the way to celebrate his senior day. He led the team with five caused turnovers on the day, while adding three ground balls of his own. Dylan Rosser added two caused turnovers and Wilson Perez-Vasquez has one caused turnover to round out his day. On the face-offs, the Cardinals had their best performance of the season, going a combined 24-34 on faceoffs. Domenico Cataldo would lead the group, going 18-2r on the day.

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Wednesday, April 24th, when they host Davis & Elkins at 6 PM.