Wheeling, W. Va. - After bringing playoff lacrosse to Bishop Schmitt Field for the first time since the 2011 season, the Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (8-6, 6-3) continues their postseason run. The road to a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Championship takes them to Greensburg, Pennsylvania when they take on the #1 seeded Seton Hill Griffins with opening face-off at 2 PM. The Cardinals are playing in the GMAC semifinals for the first time since the 2018 season, when they also took on Seton Hill in Greensburg. 
The Cardinals advanced to the semifinal after surviving a late push in their Quarterfinal matchup with Davenport on Saturday. Early on, it was all Cardinals with the offense scoring five unanswered goals over the first 15 minutes of play. Wheeling would outshoot the Panthers 18-6 in the first quarter and continued the stretch to seven straight goals to start the second quarter. Wheeling's offense would continue to roll through the first half, and by halftime they had stretched their lead to a 9-2 advantage. Wheeling would also get the first goal of the second half, but Davenport began to battle back, scoring six straight goals that turned a 10-2 Cardinals lead to a 10-8 deficit with 12:55 to play. Wheeling broke the string with back-to-back goals to make it 12-8 and it was enough for the team to hold on as they took down the Panthers 12-9 to advance to Wednesday's semifinal.
Leading the way on offense for the Cardinals was Brenner Chase, who scored a career high eight points in the effort. He was the Cardinal's leading goal scorer, finishing with five goals, while adding three assists to round out the day. He was essential to the Cardinal's early success, scoring the first two goals of the game for the Cardinals, while putting up four of his five goals during the first half. In the second half, he would turn to passing the ball, picking up two assists and his final goal to help the Cardinals survive the final push from the Panthers. Chase has been the Cardinal's second leading score this season with 29 goals while leading the team with 20 assists this season. He sets up the offense nine times out of 10 as they come down the field and he hopes to set them up for a postseason run as they hit the road to face the #1 seed in the tournament.
On the defensive side, it was Austin Hall leading the charge for the Cardinals in net. He would tie his career high with 26 saves in the effort while facing 35 shots to finish with a .742 save percentage on the day. Hall has established himself as one of the top goalies in all of the GMAC, sitting second in the conference with 235 saves this season. As the Cardinals prepare to take on the top scoring offense in the conference, Hall's performance in net will be essential to his team's success. The other key piece to the Cardinal's offense this season has been Jack Rowe, who is coming off another strong performance in the quarterfinals. He finished with three points, scoring twice and assisting on another goal throughout the day. Rowe has been the Cardinal's leading scorer this season with 35 goals in his team's 14 games played. He will look to help spark his offense as they head to the semifinals.
Wednesday will mark the second semifinal appearance for the program since joining the GMAC during the 2018 season. Their last appearance came in that inaugural season in the conference and they would also draw Seton Hill in the opening matchup. The Cardinals and Griffins will be the first of two semifinal matches on the day in the GMAC, with #2 Lake Erie and #3 Walsh squaring off later in the day. The Cardinals will have to win two more games if they want to secure the first GMAC Championship in program history and to do so, they will have to have their success on the road. The Cardinals have a winning record on the road this season, going 3-2 when they are away from Bishop Schmitt Field. The Cardinals look to keep their playoff success going as they go for the upset against the preseason favorites in the GMAC.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Griffins are meeting for the seventh time in program history, with Seton Hill having won each of the six meetings between the two teams. Wednesday will mark the second time the teams have met in postseason play, with Seton Hill winning the matchup 16-7. It will be the Cardinal's third trip to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where they are 0-3, while the Cardinals have averaged seven goals per game in the all-time series, with the Cardinals scoring at-least five times in each match-up.
The last meeting between the two teams came back on March 18th, 2025, in a game that Seton Hill would win by the final score of 30-6. The Cardinals were led by Brenner Chase, who finished with three goals and two assists to finish with five points. Jack Rowe would be the other Cardinal to score on the day, finishing with two goals, while Austin Hall got the start in net and made 13 saves 39 shots faced on the day.
The Details
Opening face-off for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 2 PM at Dick's Sporting Goods Field on the campus of Seton Hill University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.