Tiffin, OH. – It was the final road game of the 2024 regular season for the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (4-7, 2-4)  as they made the trip to Tiffin, Ohio. It was a big day for the offense once again as the Cardinals put up 18 points in what was an 18-7 win over Tiffin for their second Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) win of the season. It lowered their magic number to three to clinch a playoff spot for the first time since the 2018 season.

After John Zaramba won the opening face-off, Tiffin would get off the first shot of the day as Austin Hall made the first of 15 saves to keep the Dragons off the board. After Ty Taylor caused a turnover, he was able to pick up the ball and built off his milestone 100th point last game. He scored an unassisted goal and the Cardinals were on the board with a 1-0 lead at the 13:05 mark of the first quarter.  Both defenses would play tight throughout that first quarter, with neither team getting on the board over the next 11 minutes. However, Wheeling had the advantage in shots, holding a 12-7 advantage and that advantage would allow them to hold the lead. With 2:04 to go I The quarter, Mike Andersson got on the board for the first time on a pass from Brenner Chase and added another on a pass from Dylan Mathias with 55 seconds to go. The Cardinals held that 3-0 advantage after one and looked to continue to add on.

As the new quarter began, Tiffin would get off the first two shots before Andersson pushed his goal streak to three straight. He got on the board at the 11:33 mark and the Cardinals pushed their lead to 4-0. The Dragons would respond with their first goal of the game at the 6:27 mark and cut the Cardinal's lead to one with 4:20 to go as Brandon MacDonald made it a 4-2 game. After another faceoff win for Zaramba, Wheeling would take an onslaught  of shots, putting the first two wide of the net. Jacob Knippel would pick up the ball and find Taylor for his second goal of the day as the Cardinals made it a 5-2 game. The Dragons would score the final goal of the half on the ensuing offensive possession and outshot the Cardinals 11-10 in the quarter. Wheeling went into halftime leading 5-3, but their offense would take off in the new half.

That offense would begin just 30 seconds into the new half as the Cardinals started with the ball in their offensive zone. Dakota Strong would set the offense and quickly found Andersson for his fourth goal of the day and Wheeling made it a 6-3 game. It would be the first of six straight goals for the Cardinals, with Knippel adding two at the start of the run, while Jack Rowe, Dylan Lavern, and Andersson each added goals down the stretch. With 9:19 to go in the third, the Cardinals turned what once was a two-point affair into an eight-point Cardinal advantage. Tiffin would get two of those goals back with Isaac Wett and Connor Gucwa each getting on the board before the Cardinals went back to work. Andersson, Rowe, and Adam Smellie each scored over the final 6:40 and the Cardinals headed into the fourth quarter with a 14-5 lead.

It would be Tiffin that scored the first goal of the new quarter, courtesy of Sam Trujillo, but with eight minutes to go the Cardinals would be back on the board. Lavern would put together his first multi-goal game of the season as he made it a 15-6 Cardinal advantage. After a successful Cardinal clear, defenseman Gabriel Hennin brought the ball into the offensive zone and found Ty Taylor in front of the net. Taylor would complete his hat trick, making it 16-6 with 7:03 to play. Tiffin would score their final goal of the day on the next possession, but the day was finished by the Wheeling offense. Andersson would score his team leading seventh goal of the day at the 6:02 mark, and Rowe would finish the scoring with his third goal of the day as the Cardinals went on to win 18-7. They moved to 2-4 in GMAC play and pushed their magic number three to clinch a playoff spot.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Andersson, who set a new season-high with seven goals on the day. He was efficient with the ball throughout the day, putting 10 of the team-leading 11 shots he took on goal, and converted 70% of those shots on goal into points. Wheeling had three different players score hat tricks on the day with Jack Rowe and Ty Taylor joining Andersson with three goals each. It was the first hat trick or the season for Taylor, while Rowe tied for second on the team with four points. Jacob Knippel would lead the team with two assists on the day and added two goals of his own to bring his points total to four. On defense, Austin Hall was strong in net, making 15 saves on 22 shots faced on the night to lead the Cardinals in net. Justin Stewart, Rowe, and Brenner Chase each added two caused turnovers to round out the effort.

The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team will return to action on Wednesday, April 10th, when they host Malone University with opening face-off at 5 PM.