Wheeling, W. Va. – After storms moved through the Wheeling area on Tuesday night, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returned to Bishop Schmitt Field on Wednesday afternoon. They welcomed in the defending Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Champion Mercyhurst and battled throughout the night but fell to the Lakers 20-10. It was a four-goal improvement from last year's meeting and the Cardinals saw a milestone marker along the way.
The moment came in the final six minutes of the game, with Mercyhurst holding a 20-8 lead. Taylor entered play needing just two points to reach the 100 career point mark in his junior season. With 6:22 to play, Taylor was not yet on the scoreboard, but was setting up the offense for the Cardinals. He would connect with Owen Doyle, who put the ball in the net to make it a 20-9 game and gave Taylor his first point of the night. He would remain one-point shy of the 100 career point mark until there was 2:02 remaining on the clock. Doyle had just sent a shot wide of net and Taylor went around back to bring the ball out. He would hit Jack Rowe in front of the net and Rowe completed the sequence with a goal to give Taylor the 100th point of his career on the assist. Taylor is the second Cardinal to hit the 150 goal mark since the program's revival in 2020, joining Mike Andersson in accomplishing that feat.
The game would end with that 20-10 score standing as Taylor ended with those two assists and sits at 100 career points. Leading the way for the Cardinals was the duo of Brenner Chase and Jacob Knippel, who each finished with three points (two goals and one assist) on the day. Chase would put two of his three shots on goal on the day while Knippel put two of his four shots on goal. The other multi-goal effort came from Jack Rowe, who added two goals of his own to round out the team's scoring. It was also a big day in net for the Cardinals as Austin Hall kept things from getting any worse. Hall would face 41 shots on the day, saving 21 of those in the effort. Two Cardinals recorded two Caused Turnovers each on the day with Adam Zdanowicz and Justin Stewart hitting the mark, while Zdanowicz led the way with seven groundballs.
As they did in their first nationally ranked matchup of the year, the Cardinals battled early, even holding a lead three minutes into the game. After Mercyhurst scored in the first 30 seconds of the game, the Cardinals would take advantage of a Lakers turnover following the ensuing face-off. Chase got his big day started, not only setting up the offense, but taking the ball all the way to the net for his first goal of the day to tie things at 1-1. On the following faceoff, a violation was called on Mercyhurst and the Cardinals once again had the ball. Wheeling would use ball movement to create separation and Dylan Lavern would have the final pass that opened things up. He found Chase once again and the Cardinals held a 2-1 lead with 12:27 to go in the first. The Lakers would quickly tie the game on the next faceoff and scored five straight goals to lead 6-2 after one quarter of play.
The Cardinals would get back on the board at the start of the second quarter after a caused turnover by Justin Stewart gave Wheeling the ball. The Cardinals would complete the clear attempt and were back on offense looking to break the streak. Jacob Knippel would get the ball in his stick and connected with Brody Fawver for the third Cardinal goal of the day as they made it a 6-3 game. After another Laker goal, the Cardinals would get their second goal of the quarter once again on a caused turnover, this time caused by Adam Zdanowicz. After getting the successful clear, the Cardinals would set up their offense once again with Adam Smellie taking charge. Smellie would find Knippel, who converted the Cardinal's fourth goal of the day to make it a 7-4 affair. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Cardinals got as they went into halftime trailing 13-4.
After the Lakers added the first two goals of the new half, the Cardinals would score back-to-back goals for the first time since the game's opening three minutes. This offensive spurt would once again come off a caused turnover, as Gabriel Hennin came up with the turnover and Dylan Mathias had the ball in the offensive zone. He found Mike Andersson, for his lone goal of the night, and the Cardinals made it a 15-5 game. Domenico Cataldo would get a win on the ensuing faceoff thanks to a violation and Wheeling once again got in the net. It would be Chase, who picked up his third point of the night as he found Dylan Lavern, who converted the goal and made it a 15-6 game. The final two goals of the day would be unassisted as Jack Rowe and Knippel started the fourth with back-to-back goals before the Cardinals fell.
The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, April 6th, when they hit the road to face Tiffin with opening faceoff at 2 PM.
