Wheeling, W. Va. – After a big win in their Mountain East Conference (MEC) opener on Sunday the Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team (4-3, 2-0) brought conference action to Bishop Schmitt Field for the first time since 2019. The Cardinals would play host to Davis & Elkins on Tuesday evening and put together an entire team effort in their 13-8 victory. After building an early lead Wheeling survived a Senators come back effort to move to 2-0 in MEC play.
Although the shots were even in the first quarter, with both teams taking seven, the Cardinals were efficient putting every shot they took on net. It would take Wheeling just two and a half minutes to get on the board as Klara Domachowska took the successful clear and put it in the back of the net to give Wheeling a 1-0 lead. It was the first of three goals in the span of two and a half minutes for Wheeling as they built a 3-0 lead. Domachowska was in on the action again after Wheeling won the draw control, finding teammate Jovie Noack to put Wheeling up 2-0. Trinity Rose would score the final goal of the run finishing a coast to coast clear to make it 3-0 Wheeling. The offense just kept coming for Wheeling as they scored the first five goals of regulation.
Noack would score her second on a pass from teammate Julia Daniels, and Sophia Cirone began her big day with a goal. The Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the first 10 minutes of play before Davis & Elkins tallied the final score of the quarter. They would get on the board with two seconds on the clock, and Wheeling would hold a 5-1 lead after one. After closing out the scoring in the first quarter it was Cirone who started the second quarter scoring with her second goal of the day. Paige Jankowski would add an unassisted goal 11 seconds later and Wheeling extended their lead to 7-1. Noack would complete the first hat trick of the day at the 7:57 mark, and Rose would finish the Cardinals first half scoring with her second goal of the day to make it 9-1 with 4:26 to go in the half.
Just as they did in the first quarter, Davis & Elkins would register the final tally before halftime as the Cardinals went into the locker room ahead 9-2. However, the Senators were not ready to give up, scoring less than a minute into the third quarter to make it 9-3. Wheeling would win the next draw control and got things started on their offensive end. It would be Jankowski that found the net for the second time on the day at the 12:54 Mark to get the goal back and push their lead to 10-3. The teams went back and forth in the quarter, with Davis and Elkins's Rylee Anderson scoring at the 5:52 mark, followed by a Cirone goal just over a minute later to make it 11-4. That would be the score heading into the final 15 minutes of play and the Cardinal defense would be called upon to close things out.
Davis & Elkins would make their final push over those 15 minutes, outscoring Wheeling 4-2. They would score the first two goals of the quarter over 6 minutes of play and got as close as 11-6 with 9:22 left to play. The Cardinals were looking for a chance to stop the run and got it after a Davis & Elkins turnover. Wheeling would take the ball into the offensive zone and Cirone would score goal number four of the day to make it a 12-6 Wheeling lead. The Senators would get on the board once more, but Wheeling would ice the game when Paige Jankowski set up a free position attempt. She would score the free position goal, getting Wheeling to the 13 goal mark. Giovanna Perkins would get her second start of the season in net and helped Wheeling seal the deal making four saves on eight shots face in the quarter. The Cardinals would go on to win by the final score of 13-8 moving them to 2-0 in MEC play.
Three different Cardinals ended with hat tricks on the day, but it was Sophia Cirone who let the way with four goals. Cirone took just four shots on the night but was able to find the back of the net each time as she tied her season high, which she set against Tiffin back on February 14th. The other two cardinals to record hat tricks on the day were Jovie Noack and Paige Jankowski who each finished with three goals on the night. Three different Cardinals registered one assist on the night, with Klara Domachowska, Julia Daniels, and Macy Davies each finishing with one assist. Giovanna Perkins got the start in net and had a career day, finishing with 18 saves on 26 shots faced to finish with a .692 save percentage. Along with scoring two goals, Trinity Rose led the defensive game with seven caused turnovers and four groundballs in the effort.
The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, March 29th, when they host Frostburg State at 1 PM.
