Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team (1-15-1, 0-13-1) would wrap up their regular season on Wednesday night when they took on West Liberty in "The Battle for Wheeling." The two teams combined for three goals over the final 10 minutes of play, but the Cardinals would end up falling by the final score of 4-3. The three goals were a season-best for the Cardinals to round out the day as they look to learn from the 2025 season and turn things around as they look towards the 2026 season, 

Coming out of halftime, the Cardinals found themselves down 1-0, but Jon-Michael Gordon would change that just a minute into the new half. He would bring the ball up field and got it into the corner of the net to immediately tie things up at 1-1. After Diego Marquez started the game, Brayden Scott would come in for the second half, and made a save on the ensuing kick-off to keep it a 1-1 affair. The Cardinals would get off four of the next five shots, and Gordon nearly scored his second goal in the 58th minute. West Liberty's Shai'ya Fitzgerald would make the save, but the rebound would find Andoni Pipaon's foot. Pipaon would find the back of the net and the Cardinals held their first lead of the night at 2-1 with 31 minutes to play. That score would hold over the next 18 minutes, but a flurry of offense would round out the half. 

The first of those goals would come in the 77th minute when West Liberty's Alex Watt got on the board to tie the game at 2-2. The Cardinals went back on the offensive and Moan Nacif would bring the ball into the offensive zone. He would send a pass to Gordon, who finished off his second goal of the night to give Wheeling a 3-2 lead. It was the first double goal game by any Cardinal this season, and brought his season total to three. However, the Hilltoppers were not done as they added two goals over the final 10 minute stretch. In the 81st minute, Zachary Jordan would score unassisted to tie the game at 3-3 and Travis Scadalis would add another score to make it 4-3. The Cardinals did not have a response over the final five minutes, and would end up falling by the final score of 4-3. 

It would be a big night for Jon-Michael Gordon, who finished with a team-best four shots with three on goal while scoring two goals. Gordon would fall one goal shy of his career high in the effort, as he scored the first multi goal season for any Cardinal player. The other Cardinal goal would come courtesy of Andoni Pipaon, who finished with one goal while takin g three shots and putting two on goal. The other shot on goal would come from Josh Timbrell, who put his only shot of the day on net. Brayden Scott would take the net in the second half, finishing with three saves on two shots faced. Deigo Marquez would make the start for the Cardinals, and finished with one goal allowed on 11 saves. The Cardinals would fall just two shots shy of West Liberty for the top spot, taking 11 shots compared to 15 for the Hilltoppers, while also falling in the shots on goal game 7-6. 

After Wheeling got off the first shot of the game in the 7th minute, it would be West Liberty that got on the scoreboard first. Scandalis would get the scoring started following a Wheeling foul. He got the ball into the back of the net and the Hilltoppers would take a 1-0 lead. Pipaon would try to get that shot back on the next possession, but ended up sailing the shot wide right to keep the game at 1-0. The Cardinals would take two shots over the game's first 15 minutes, missing on both, as they looked to find their groove before halftime. As the 20-minute mark ticked by, the score sat at 1-0 in favor of West Liberty after their goal in the 10th minute. 

After the ball went back and forth over the next 20 minutes, both teams would try to add on before the halftime break. West Liberty would be first, taking a shot in the 42nd minute, but Diego Marquez was their for the save. The next shot would end up sailing wide right on the rebound and it was Wheeling's turn to make a push. As time was expiring, it would be captain Josh Timbrell that brought the ball up field. He would take a shot towards net, but Fitzgerald would once again make the save to bring the night to an end. 

The Wheeling University Men's Soccer team now heads to the off-season as they look to build their young program and set themselves up for success in 2026.