Wheeling W.Va- Despite the Wheeling Cardinals (0-2-1), (0-2) playing an excellent, aggressive first half, they were unable to capitalize on their chances throughout the game as they fall to the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats 1-0. The Cardinals created an abundance of scoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes, registering six shots total with two of them being on goal. However, the Bobcats dominated in the second half, which resulted in the win.
 
To start off the game, the Bobcats wanted to set the tone on the road early. They had two corner kicks and three of their four total shots in the first half within the opening seven minutes of the game. At this point, the Cardinals took control of the match as their offense logged three shots from Luis Bravo and two from Christian Ruud. Defenders Alex Yesufu, Alvaro Ivanov, Hallvard Falch, Henri Falcon, and Josh Timbrell did a terrific job of keeping the ball in front of them to constantly push the play up. Antonio Herra-Blackwood, Joergen Bjerkreim, and Salem Mwelwa used their quick thinking and creativity to create space and find the forwards for shot opportunities.
 
The Bobcats' Adam Gribben would get a shot off, but then 15 seconds later, the game saw its first of many yellow cards given out to W.V Wesleyan's Blair Sinclair. Immediately after, Herra-Blackwood found himself in a prime scoring position, but unfortunately sent the ball up high and to the left. Although neither team recorded a shot, Wheeling continued to play in their opponent's part of the field until it was halftime.
 
Once the second half was underway, Herra-Blackwood registered another shot attempt and Caden Carpenter for the Bobcats would also get a shot off. Then, in the span of about six minutes, there were three cards given out: each team received a yellow and Henri Falcon received the only red card in the game to end his night at the 55:42 mark. The Bobcats decided that this would be the best time to push their style of play onto the Cards, because they recorded three shots directly on Daniel Delo as they hemmed Wheeling in their own end. The Bobcats' pressure would pay off at 72:23 as John Hollis broke through with a shot to put his club up.
 
As W.V Wesleyan continued to press, they were rewarded with more shot opportunities, but also yellow cards as Gribben and Rajkovic were given the warnings. Wheeling had a chance to answer back as they were awarded two corner kicks and with two shots from Ivanov, one on net and one out left. The Bobcats continued to control the ball in the Cardinals' territory as they were also awarded two corner kicks along with a shot by Samuel Hill, but they were all neutralized by the Wheeling defense.
 
Time was running low for the Cardinals, and they knew it. They worked up the far side of the field as the Bobcats kept kicking the ball out of bounds. A yellow card was given out to Hollis, which gave Wheeling one last chance to tie it up. The ball was crossed over the box to Pablo Prieto. He got all the ball and shot it with power, but unfortunately, it went wide left, and the game ended.
 
The Cardinals will be away from Bishop-Schmitt Field for the next three games. They will travel to Shepherdstown, WV for a non-conference matchup against the Shepard Rams at 3pm.