Wheeling, W. Va. – It was the battle of the top two teams in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) on Saturday when the Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team welcomed in Frostburg State on Saturday. The Cardinals battled against the top ranked team in the conference, falling to Frostburg State 21-6. In the effort, Cardinal's senior goalkeeper Maisy Latus reached a career milestone, collecting her 500th career save in the effort.
The mark came in the second half after Latus checked in at the end of the third quarter looking to keep the score where it was. After making one save early on, Latus needed just one more save to reach the milestone and would get it at the 10:18 mark of the fourth quarter. After calling a timeout, the Bobcats were coming in hot after a clear and Megan Gray would send a shot on net. Maisy was able to get her stick in front of the shot, making the 500th save of her collegiate career. In total, Latus would finish with five saves on 17 shots faced to round out the day, while playing 33 minutes in net. Giovanna Perkins would play the other half of the game, playing 26 minutes while making four saves on 13 shots faced to round out the defensive effort.
After Frostburg State scored the first four goals of the game over the first seven minutes, the Cardinals would get on the board at the 7:00 mark. After a Frostburg State turnover, Bre'ya Clopper would pick up the ground ball and went coast-to-coast taking the ball to the Bishop Schmitt Field 15-yard line. She would dump the pass off to teammate Paige Jankowski, who would convert the first goal of the day to make it a 4-1 affair. It was the first of two goals for the senior, who led the Cardinals with two goals and two points on the day. Her second goal would come right before the halftime break, as she scored on a free position goal to bring the game to its 13-2 halftime score. Jankowski was efficient on the day, putting all three of her shots on net, with two of those going into the back of the net.
The Cardinal's point leader was Trinity Rose, who finished with two goals and an assist to total three points in the effort. Rose started her day at the 5:04 mark of the third quarter, after being set up with a free position. Rose would make her way around the defense and got the ball into the back of the net, scoring Wheeling's fourth goal of the day. It was the first of back-to-back goals for Rose, who took a pass from Jovie Noack and put the Cardinal's fifth point on the board with her second goal of the day. With 4:08 to go, Rose would register her first assist on the day, causing a turnover and bringing the ball up to the Frostburg State net. There, she would dump off to Macy Davies, who sent the ball into the top right corner for the goal to make it 19-6.
Jovie Noack would register the Cardinal's final goal of the day, scoring to open up the new half. The goal came as part of a free position opportunity for the Cardinals as Noack rared back and flung the ball into the back of the net. The final Cardinal point would come courtesy of Sophia Cirone, who assisted Rose on her final goal of the day in the fourth quarter. On the defensive side, the Cardinals had two defenders leading the way with Julia Bradley and Sarah Artzer each finishing with two caused turnovers. Artzer, who made her return to the Lacrosse field, had a big showing in her debut, while Julia Bradley set a new career-high with her two caused turnover effort. Davies would lead the way in draw controls, finishing with three to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team returns to action on Saturday, April 5th, when they hit the road to face Charleston at noon.
