North Canton, OH. - For the first time since 2018, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (7-8, 4-4) opened Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Quarterfinal play in North Canton, Ohio. It was a valiant effort for the Cardinals, who battled to overtime, but it wasn't enough as they fell just short in the end, falling to Wals 11-10 to bring their tournament run to an end. The Cardinals were the first team since 2018 to make the GMAC Tournament, and they have a lot to build on as they move into 2025 and beyond. 

Right off the opening face-off, Walsh got the ball and drove down the field, but a big save for Austin Hall got the momentum on the Cardinal's side. After a successful clear, the Cardinal offense took over as Dakota Strong picked up the ball after a missed shot off the crossbar. Strong would find the back of the net unassisted and the Cardinals were out to a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into play. The Cardinal's defense would play big throughout the first quarter, with Hall making two saves and the defense blocking several other shots. At the 6:42 mark, Dylan Lavern brought the ball up the field and found Ty Taylor for the Cardinal's second goal of the day to make it a 2-0 game. Just over a minute later, the Cardinals were on the board again as Strong connected with Brody Fawver and the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead with 5:01 to go in the quarter. 

After Walsh got on the board for the first time at the 4:25 mark, the Cardinal defense would prove stronger in the quarter. With 1:36 to play in the quarter, the Cardinals maintained their 3-1 lead and after a successful clear were in the driver's seat. This time, it was Fawver who brought the ball up the field and he connected with Taylor for his second goal of the day to make it a 4-1 Wheeling advantage. Wheeling would win the ensuing face-off on a violation and took three consecutive shots. The final of those three shots went into the back of the net, as Brenner Chase found the net and the Cardinals led 5-1 after one quarter of play. Wheeling would outshoot the Cavaliers 15-9 during that first quarter, and would put together double-digit shots in each of the first two quarters of play. 

In the second quarter, the Cardinal defense continued to hold strong, keeping Walsh off the board for the first 10 minutes of the quarter. Meanwhile, the Cardinals would add on as Jacob Knippel connected with Adam Smellie at the 10:49 mark as the Cardinals took a 6-1 lead. Over the final five minutes of play, Walsh would score the final two goals of the half and Wheeling entered halftime with a 6-3 lead. They pushed their run to four straight goals as they started the second half with a goal at the 14:24 mark, making it a 6-4 game. It would take five minutes for the Cardinal offense to get going and at the 9:17 mark Chase brought the ball up the field. He found Mike Andersson, who scored his first goal of the day and pushed Wheeling's lead back to three as they lead 7-4. 

After another save from Hall, the Cardinals would possess the ball for the next two minutes, firing off six shots. After two saves from Walsh goalkeeper Alex Movshin, the third shot went in as Ty Taylor got on the board for the third time on the day to make it an 8-4 game. However, the third quarter would end with a pair of Walsh goals and the score sat at 8-6 in favor of the Cardinals heading into the final 15 minutes. The Cardinals would start that final quarter with a goal as Strong scored his second goal of the day to give Wheeling a 9-6 lead with 13:07 to play. Walsh would continue to battle, scoring three goals over the next seven minutes and the game would be tied at 9-9 with 6:46 to play.  

The two teams would go back and forth over those final six minutes with neither able to get on the board. It wasn't until the 2:37 mark that the Cardinals would break through, after Walsh was called for a penalty. 10 seconds later, the Cardinals took advantage as Jack Rowe brought the ball around the net and connected with Ty Taylor to give Wheeling a 10-9 lead with 2:37 to play. It looked like the Cardinals would pick up a first round win, but with four seconds to play, Walsh would score goal #10 and the game would be tied at 10-10 as regulation expired. Their would only be one goal in the overtime period, and it came from from Walsh's Colby Bowman at the 3:22 mark as Walsh won the contest 11-10. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Ty Taylor, who picked up the hat trick, finishing with four goals and four points on the day. He was the Cardinal's leading shot taker, taking 11 shots while putting eight of those on net to round out the day. Dakota Strong was the final Cardinal to score multiple goals in the game, putting up two goals and one assist to finish with three points. Mike Andersson, Brody Fawver, Adam Smellie, and Brenner Chase would each add goals to round out the offense. Justin Stewart and Adam Zdanowicz would each lead the defense with three caused turnovers, while Austin Hall made 13 saves on 24 shots faced. 

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team now heads into the off-season, as they look to get back to the GMAC Tournament in 2025.