Wheeling, W. Va- The spirits of the Wheeling Women's Soccer team (1-2), (1-0) have been lifted after defeating the Point Park Pioneers 2-0 on Sunday. They will need to carry the feeling of victory with them the girls ready themselves to travel to Fairmont, WV to take on the Falcons.
 
In the victory against the Pioneers, the Cardinals gave their full effort on both sides of the ball for the full 90 minutes. When the Cardinals found themselves in their own end, they trusted one another to make the right plays. They played the bounces well, they cut off passing and shooting lanes well, and pressed the attackers to ensure that if they did shoot the ball, it wouldn't be as threatening. This defensive pressure was the result of hard work by Krystal Elie, Kaitlyn Osorio, Tayler Wells, and Ainslie Reuben. If the Pioneers found themselves with a chance, it was quickly shutdown by Olivia Kqira.
 
Thanks to that lock down defense by Wheeling, it allowed opened scoring chances for the offense. The effort from Mary DiFonzo, Lily Hanna, and Olivia Hoban caused turnovers in the midfield and they were able to create space and find the forwards up top. Hanna used her speed to split the defense to score first with six minutes to go in the first half. Then, Graceylyn Hanna wanted to show off her skill by crossing the ball beautifully through two defenders over to Nyah Smith, who did not miss her shot to go up 2-0 in the 72^nd minute.
 
The Cardinal's amazing play would result in domination on the stat sheet. The team recorded 14 shots with 10 being on the net. The defense held strong, only allowing Kqira to make one close, diving save off a Point Park corner kick. The Pioneers were limited to just two shots in the second half, and both missed because of the Cardinal's aggressive style of defense. Wheeling was able to secure not only their first conference win, but their first overall win of the season. Their opponent won't be easy, so they will need to focus on and force their style of play.
 
 
Flying High
 
The Fairmont State Falcons (1-1-1), (0,0) are coming off a dominating win of their own as they mauled the West Liberty Hilltoppers 5-1 on the road. From the moment they kicked off, Fairmont was in control. By the time halftime came, it was 3-0 Falcons. Leading the way for them was freshman Sam Yuen and sophomore Serenity Thomas as they both scored a pair in the blowout. After that performance, they want to put on a show for their fans against Wheeling for their conference/home opener.
 
Fairmont came into the season with high expectations as they were voted to finish 2^nd in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) preseason poll only behind Frostburg State. They finished fourth in the MEC's North Division and lost 3-1 to Charleston in the quarterfinals.
 
These two teams met last year in late October at Fairmont State. The Falcons squeaked out a close 4-3 win over the Cardinals. Mary DiFonzo had herself a day, scoring all three goals for Wheeling in that match. The Cards will look for their first win over the Falcons since 2017.
 
 
The Details
 
Kickoff is slated for 7pm at Duvall-Rosier Field in Fairmont, WV. You can tune in to watch from home HERE, or you can follow alongside LiveStats HERE.