Buckhannon, W.Va- It was a beatdown of the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats in Buckhannon as the Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team (3-3), (1-0) secured its first Mountain East Conference (MEC) win of the season against the Bobcats 26-4. The win also signifies the program's first MEC regular season win since its last season back in 2019. Eight different Cardinals finished with at least two points with four finishing with three goals or more.  

Trinity Rose kicked things off with a goal only a hair over three minutes played in the contest. The offense continued to fire shots on net, hoping for another to go in, and their wish would come true when Bre'ya Clopper capitalized on the man-up advantage at the 9:55 mark of the first. Then, Klara Domachowska fired home a shot after receiving a pass from Jovie Novak to extend the Cardinal led to 3-0 only 44 seconds later. The Bobcats were finally able to find the back of the net, and the momentum seemed to be shifting their way after being awarded a three-minute man-up advantage. However, Novak found Rose's stick and she buried the ball past the keeper. Sophia Cirone joined in on the scoring with a goal coming with 5:41 left to play in the first. Not even a minute later, Rose completed the hattrick to stretch the Cardinal lead 6-1. Domachowska netted her second of the evening around the four-minute mark and the Cards did not see the scoresheet again until the 1:11 mark of the first until when a free position goal that came from Paige Jankowski. Wheeling was not finished scoring as it scored two more times in the final 30 seconds. Cirone's goal came with 25 seconds left and Rose's fourth of the game crossed the line with one second left. After just one period, Wheeling led Wesleyan 10-1. 

Similarly to the previous period, it took the Cards roughly three minutes into the second period to open the scoring, but this time, Macy Davies netted a man-up marker after a pass from Domachowska. Wesleyan got their second goal of the game at the 10:09 mark that came from a free position shot. The offense stayed hungry and kept testing the goalkeeper, and it paid off as Domachowska would record her third of the game and become the second Cardinal to record a hattrick to go up 12-2 about two and a half minutes later. A good clear from Wheeling allowed Jankowski to get a step ahead of the defense to net her second goal of the game. Rose gained possession of a ground ball, which allowed Domachowska to feed Davies as she registered her second of the evening. After assisting on the previous two markers for the Cards, Domachowska found the back of the net again on the man-up advantage to close the first half up 15-2.  

The second half started abruptly for the Cardinals when Davies won the draw control and Rose jumped on the opportunity to strike only 12 seconds into the third period. Then, Julia Daniels found the hot stick of Rose for her sixth of the contest to make it 17-2. The Cardinals continued their scoring while a man-up as Cirone blasted her second goal past the keeper for a free position goal.  Daniels caused the Bobcats to turn the ball over and Jankowski made certain to cash in with 5:22 remaining in the third period. Domachowska closed the third with a free position goal of her own and Wheeling took a 20-2 lead with them into the final quarter of play. 

The fourth was started by none other than Rose once more as barely two minutes passed before she was able to weave through the Bobcat defense and put up lucky number seven. Giavonna Perkins had a rather quiet night, but she came up with a save that allowed the Cardinals to clear the ball and for Clopper to run down to the other end of the field for goal number 22 for Wheeling. A draw control win gave the Cards possession and Daniels used the opportunity to fire a shot on goal, and following the theme of the game, it smashed against the mesh netting. Rose recorded her eighth and final goal of the game a little under nine minutes remaining in the fourth when Domachowska shoveled the ball to her and Rose whipped it through the posts. Davies connected with Jankowski to further extend the lead along with Domachowska whistling her sixth shot past the goalkeeper for goal number six. Wesleyan managed two more goals before the contest ended for a 26-4 final score. 

The Cardinals were able to bounce back in a massive way after three consecutive tough losses. Klara Domachowska led the Cardinal attack with six goals and four assists for 10 points. Right behind her was Trinity Rose, who finished with eight goals for nine points. Paige Jankowski ended the night with four goals and two assists and Sophia Cirone clocked three goals. Macy Davies concluded with two goals and an assist while Julia Daniels ended her night with a goal and two assists, each for three points. Bre'ya Clopper had two goals and led the team with seven caused turnovers. Jovie Novak finished the evening with two assists. Giavonna Perkins was in the crease for the Cardinals and made two saves.  

The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team will return to Bishop Schmitt Field on Wednesday, March 26th to host the Davis & Elkins Senators. The opening draw control is scheduled for 4 pm.