Fairmont, W. Va. – After opening the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) schedule at home, the Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (1-3, 1-1) hit the road Wednesday for the first of back-to-back road games. The Cardinals made the trip to nearby Fairmont State and after battling back and forth with the Falcons all night, ended up falling just short in a 3-2 decision. Wheeling was outshot 16-9 in the game and, despite a valiant effort from the defense, was unable to overtake the Falcons.
Wheeling came out fast and furious, taking advantage of an early Fairmont State foul. The Cardinals would bring the ball into their offensive zone and put it into the hands of their leading goal scorer
Mary DiFonzo. DiFonzo made her way around the Falcon's defense and sent a shot into the back of the net to give Wheeling a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the match. Over the next nine minutes, the ball bounced around the midfield, with neither team getting off a shot. In the 11th minute, Fairmont State would respond with their first offensive opportunity of the night. Serenity Thomas would take the chance for the Falcons and was able to put the ball past the defense and into the net as Fairmont State tied the game at 1-1. Defense would lead the way the rest of the half as neither team got on the scoreboard over the final 34 minutes of play.
After scoring the Cardinal's first goal in their opener against Point Park,
Lily Hanna tried to spark the Cardinal offense with a pair of shots over the next 15 minutes. The first one was off net in the 13th minute as she tried to get the Cardinals back out in front. In the 25th minute, Hanna was back at it again after taking a foul four minutes earlier. Hanna took a shot that looked ticketed for the top of the net, but Fairmont State's Olivia Johnston would make the save and keep it a 1-1 game. Wheeling's back line defense of
Krystal Elie,
Tayler Wells, and
Ainslie Reuben played strong throughout the first half, not allowing the Falcons to get another shot on net. The sent six shots off target during the 34 minutes stretch and the two teams headed into the locker room with the score tied at 1-1.
As the second half began, that Cardinal defense continued to shine as
Olivia Kqira made her first two saves of the day. Both came in the 57th minute, when the Falcons sent back-to-back shots on net and the Cardinal goalkeeper kept it a 1-1 game. However, Fairmont State would break through in the 60th minute, when Thomas found Lauren Dye to give Fairmont State a 2-1 lead. As Fairmont State did in the first half, Wheeling was quick to respond as Hanna brought the ball up on the ensuing possession. After missing in her last shot on goal, Hanna assured that she wouldn't miss this time, scoring her third goal of the year to tie the game at 2-2. The Cardinal defense continued forcing bad shots throughout the half, but Fairmont State would eventually get the game winner in the 74th minute as Filippa Stalhammar made it a 3-2 game and the Cardinals were unable to get back on the board and picked up their first conference loss of the season.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was
Lily Hanna, who took a team-high three shots, putting two on goal. It was the second straight game that Hanna scored a goal and the third goal for the freshman in the first four games. The other Cardinal goal of the night came from
Mary DiFonzo, who only took one shot on the day and made it count converting her third goal of the season. The final Cardinal shot of the day came from
Tayler Wells, who took one shot off net in the game.
Olivia Kqira would get the start in net, making three saves on six shots faced on the night.
The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team returns to action on Saturday, September 21st, when they hit the road to face Frostburg State with kick-off at 5:30 PM.
