Wheeling, W. Va. - In their first season as a rebuild program, the Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team (7-7, 4-3) was back in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament. The Cardinals would earn the honor of hosting the first round MEC Play-in Game and would be locked in a back and forth battle with Davis & Elkins. In the end, the Cardinals survived and advanced as they took down the Senators 11-8 to advance to the MEC Semifinals.
As the game kicked off, it was Davis & Elkins who got things started, scoring just 30 seconds into the game to take an early 1-0 advantage. They would stretch that lead to 2-0 at the 9:39 mark of the quarter and the Cardinals were looking for some life. They would get the spark they needed from Graduate Student Paige Jankowski after a successful clear attempt as she took it to the net for an unassisted goal. That made it a 2-1 game at the 7:25 mark, but the Senators were back at it with their third goal of the day at the 6:00 mark to take a 3-1 lead. Despite the slow start, the Cardinals got things going at the end of the quarter , scoring three straight goals. It began at the 2:23 mark of the quarter when Macy Davies found Jankowski for her second goal of the day to make it a 3-2 game.
On the ensuing draw control, the Cardinals would go quick strike offense as Trinity Rose won the draw control and just five seconds later Jovie Noack got the Cardinals on the board with an unassisted goal. The Cardinals ended the run with 1:08 to go in the quarter, when Bre'ya Clopper went coast to coast on a clear and got the ball to the back of the net to give the Cardinals their first lead of the day at 4-3. That would be the score at the end of the first quarter and it was a lead that the Cardinals would not give up the rest of the way. The Cardinal defense would hold the Senators off the board for nine minutes and in that time would build a three goal advantage. Sophia Cirone and Klara Domachowska would each get on the board with unassisted goals during the run and the Cardinals led 6-3 with 5:01 to go in the half.
Davis & Elkins would break their scoreless string with four minutes to go in the half, making it a 6-4 game, and that would be the score as the team's went to the halftime break. The Senators threatened coming out of the halftime break, making it a 6-5 game at the 12:%3 mark of the quarter and the Cardinals would have to find their mojo again. It would come after back-to-back yellow cards that set Macy Davies up with a free position. Davies would find the back of the net and the Cardinals would extend their lead to 7-5. After scoring the first two goals of the game, Jankowski would keep the scoring going as she found Rose for her first goal of the game and the Cardinals extended their lead to 8-5. They would get one more goal in the quarter as Clopper picked up her first multi-goal game of the season, scoring at the 5:05 mark of the third. The Cardinals would lead 9-5 heading into the final quarter as they looked to close out the game.
As the fourth quarter began, the Senators would continue their push, scoring their sixth goal of the day at the 13:49 mark. The Cardinals would answer at the 10:22 mark when Sophia Cirone was set up with a free position attempt and fired the ball past the goalie and the Cardinals took a 10-6 lead. Davis & Elkins would get to within three once again with 8:33 to play as Rylee Anderson made it a 10-7 Cardinal lead. Wheeling would get the insurance goal they needed at the 7:10 mark when Macy Davies scored on a free position goal to make it an 11-7 Wheeling lead. Davis & Elkins would get on the board one time in the final minute, but the Cardinals had done enough as they held on for the 11-8 victory.
Leading the charge for the Cardinals was graduate student Paige Jankowski, who finished with two goals and one assist to finish with three points on the day. She would score each of the Cardinal's first two goals of the game as she helped kick start the offense. The other Cardinal to finish with three points was Macy Davies, who duplicated Jankowski's performance, finishing with two goals and one assist. Bre'ya Clopper and Sophia Cirone were the other two Cardinals to finish with multiple goals on the day, each adding a pair of goals. Giavonna Perkins would start in net and finished with eight saves on 13 shots faced in the effort.
The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team returns to action on Thursday, May 1st for the semifinal round against #1 Frostburg State.
