Wheeling W.Va-  The Wheeling Cardinals Men's Soccer Team (0-3-1), (0-2) broke their two-game scoring drought, unfortunately, it was not enough to overcome the non-conference Shepard Rams as they lost in a tight affair 2-1 on the road. The Cards ended up conceding the first mark but would answer back just before the first half ended. The Rams went on to score early to open the second half and then played great defense to bring home the win.
 
As soon as kickoff began, the Cardinals seemed ready to play as Andoni Oynesa broke out and registered an early shot, but it missed a tad bit left. However, the Rams started to rain shots down upon senior goalkeeper Carlos Molina. He would stop four Shepard shots in the span of three and a half minutes. The teams continued to play hard, but the Rams attack would break through as Shepard's Donik Elshani scored with 24:51 in the first half to make it 1-0.
 
Immediately after, the Cardinals were awarded a corner kick. It was sent into the box and Joergen Bjerkreim was able to get a piece of it, but the shot went off target to the right. The Wheeling offense kept looking for more scoring opportunities throughout the remainder of the first half. They would have their chance as Jordan Taylor fired one on net, but it was blocked. They kept applying pressure and a minute after that blocked shot, at 44:41, Josh Timbrell spotted Alex Yesufu open in the box and threaded the needle to him. Yesufu took a shot and found the back of the net for the first time in his collegiate career to tie the game up with only seconds before the teams broke for halftime. 
 
When they returned to the pitch after their rest, Shepard meant business. Although the corner kick that was awarded to them was unfruitful, they stuck to their gameplan and only two minutes later, Elshani ended up back on the scoresheet to net his second of the night at the 48-minute mark. Wheeling would get a chance to tie it back up off the foot of Pablo Prieto, but it was saved by Ram's goalie Aiden Houck. Shepard kept Wheeling in their own end for the majority of the second half to protect their lead. The Rams put up 10 shots in the second half with only one getting past the experienced Cardinal defense. Jordan Taylor and Christian Ruud would both earn chances to score later in the match as well, but both shots skewed wide, as the final score in Shepardstown read 2-1 in favor of the home team.
 
The Cardinals will continue their road trip on September 18^th as they head to Pittsburgh, PA to take on the Point Park Pioneers at 7pm.