Canton, OH. – As they hit the road on Wednesday night, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team needed one win to secure their second trip to the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC ) Tournament. It was another high scoring affair between Wheeling and Malone, and the Cardinals got the job done with a 17-13 win. The Cardinals are heading to the tournament for the second straight season and are now battling for a first round home playoff game.
The Cardinal offense came out firing from the get-go, scoring in the game's first 40 seconds. A Malone penalty gave the Cardinals a man-up opportunity and Dakota Strong would take advantage. He would set up the offense and got to the net unassisted to give Wheeling an early 1-0 lead. The defense was strong early on as well, with Austin Hall making two big saves early. After his second save, the Cardinals would complete a successful clear attempt and Dylan Lavern would make a move around the net. He connected with Jack Rowe for the Cardinal's second goal of the day and Wheeling held a 2-0 advantage. Malone would respond with their first goal of the day at the 11:24 mark, but it was just the start of a big day for Rowe. He would score three straight goals for the Caridnals and by the seven minute mark, the Cardinals held a 4-1 advantage.
Owen Doyle would add the final Cardinal goal of the quarter, assisted by Rowe, and one more Malone tally would make it 5-2 after one quarter. The Pioneers would start the second quarter hot, scoring the first two goals and getting to within one goal of the Cardinals at 5-4. However, a Malone penalty would give the Cardinals a man-up opportunity and they would take advantage. Ty Taylor got the ball behind the net and fed Strong for the goal to make it a 6-4 Cardinal lead. It would send the Cardinals on a three-goal swing, where Ryder McCall and Taylor got on the board, with Rowe and Brenner Chase assisting. It gave the Cardinals an 8-4 advantage, but Malone kept on coming, and added three goals of their own to make it an 8-7 game with 2:47 to go before the half.
Wheeling would make one final push before the break and, with 1:20 to play, Doyle would pick up the rebound on a shot by Chase, and found the back of the net to make it w 9-7 game. Wheeling would continue to push 17 seconds later as Mason Malec won the face-off, and Taylor took the ball to the net for the Cardinal's 10th goal of the day. It started a late half flurry for the Cardinals, scoring four goals in the span of a minute and 20 seconds. The Cardinals. Would win three straight face-off during the run, with Malec winning two and Dominico Cataldo adding one, with all three resulting in goals. Rowe added goal #4 on the day, and Finn Wotton added another goal just seconds later as the Cardinals headed into the half with a 12-7 advantage.
After the flurry of offense to finish the third quarter, Wheeling would get the third quarter offense started as Strong scored unassisted to put Wheeling's lead to 13-7. The teams would go back and forth over the next five minutes, with Taylor scoring off a pass from Chase and, with 10:39 to go it was a 14-10 Wheeling advantage. The Cardinals would add one more goal before the quarter was out, with Rowe connecting with Taylor, and the Cardinals held a 15-10 lead over Malone by the end of the quarter. Malone would put score Wheeling 3-2 over the final 15 minutes of play, getting as close as 16-12 after Dylan Lavern scored early in the quarter. However, it was Rowe's fifth goal of the day that secured the victory as the Cardinals went on to win by the final score of 17-13.
It was a big day for Jack Rowe, who led the way for the Cardinals with five goals and three assists to total eight points in the effort. It was the highest scoring game of the season for the junior, with four of those goals and two assists coming in the first half. Finishing right behind him with four goals on the day was Ty Taylor, who finished with four goals and one assist to total five points. The final Cardinals to score multiple goals were Dakota Strong and Owen Doyle, who finished with three and two goals respectively. Finn Wotton, Dylan Lavern, and Ryder McCall each added goals on the day to round out the offense. Austin Hall would get the start in net for the Cardinals, and finished with 17 saves on 30 shots faced, while Dakota Strong and Adam Zdanowicz each added three caused turnovers on the day.
The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team returns to action on Tuesday, April 22nd, when they host Davis & Elkins with opening face-off at 6 PM.
