Wheeling, W. Va. – Heading into Sunday afternoon's game, the Wheeling University Women's Soccer team (2-3-2, 1-1-2) was tasked with holding the highest scoring team in the conference at bay. The Cardinal defense stood strong until the 89^th minute with 8 seconds on the clock, but earned a crucial point in a 1-1 tie with Fairmont State. It was a goal in the 12th minute that had the Cardinals in good position throughout the day as they kept pace with their MEC North Division leaders.

Fairmont State would control the time of possession throughout the game, and took the first three shots of the game over the first 10 minutes. However, the Cardinal back line went to work, forcing all three shots to fall off target. A Falcons foul in the 10^th minute season the Cardinals up for their first scoring opportunity of the day. Gabby Bortolussi would have the ball at midfield before sending a pass to the outside. There waiting for it was Gracelynn Hanna, who hooked the shot around a pair of Falcon defenders. It would sink into the top left corner of the net and Wheeling would take a 1-0 lead. It was Hanna's first collegiate goal and gave the defense room to work with throughout the ge day. With the less on their side, the Cardinals defense has some room to work as the Falcons continued to pressure. They took their first shot on net in the 19^th minute, but Akyla Walcott would get in front of the shot and the Cardinals maintained their lead as the 25-minute mark ticked by.

Walcott would make two more saves in the first half, one in the 29^th minute, and one in the 39^th minute, but the backine did their job to keep her clean. The Falcons would outshoot the Cardinals 15-1 in the first half, but only three of those 15 shots were on net. Ainslie Reuben, Caryn Goins, and Amelia Kassam Put pressure on Fairmont State throughout the afternoon forcing bad shots. They kept them off the board. Their biggest push would come following Walcott's final save of the half,  as they fired off five shots over the next four minutes. All five of those shots would be off the mark, with the Cardinals pushing the ball to the right side of the field. Fairmont State would have one more chance, with a corner kick in the 44^th minute, but the defense was able to clear the pass and the Cardinals went into halftime holding a 1-0 advantage. Fairmont State entered the game averaging 4.6 goals per game, and the Cardinals would look to hold them off the board over the final 45 minutes.

The Fairmont State offense would start up again right away as the Falcon's first shot of the half came 50 seconds in. Walcott was ready as she made her fourth save of the day and continued to keep the Falcons at bay. Wheeling continued to play team defense throughout the afternoon, forcing the next seven Falcons shots off net over the first 16 minutes of the new half. The Cardinals tried to take advantage of the missed opportunities for Fairmont State, but they had trouble controlling the ball over the midfield line. Along with their ability to make the opposition send shots off net, Wherling'$ defense was also able to get in front of a few shots on the day. Caryn Goins has a big blocked shot in the first half that ended up keeping the ball out of the net, and in the 69^th minute, it was Ainslie Reuben who got in front of a shot that was center cut on the net for a big block of her own.

The Falcons made a few strong pushes over the final 20 minutes of play and, early on, Wheeling's defense was able to make the stop. The first of those came in the 72^nd minute as Fairmont State's Montserrat Diaz drove in towards the bottom right corner of the net. Walcott took an aggressive approach, coming out to attack the ball, and swept the attackers legs for the big save. After two more saves for Walcott, her next big moment would come in the game's 83^rd minute after Wheeling cleared the ball out of the zone. Fairmont State set up for a throw-in, and drove the ball back into the offensive zone. Giannetto Valentina would get the ball on her foot and shot for the opposite corner, but Walcott dove to her right to knock the ball away. It wouldn be until the final 10 second countdown began that Fairmont State got on the board as Payton Parliament connected with Valentina to tie things up at 1-1. In the end, the Cardinals got their second tie of the season as they picked up their fifth conference point of the season.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Akyla Walcott, who was able to hold the conference's highest scoring team to just one goal. She made nine saves on 10 shots faced, settled my a season high by one save. In front of her, Caryn Goins, Amelia Kassam, and Ainslie Reuben led a Cardinal defense that allowed just 10 shots on goal, and held Fairmont State to a .270 shot on goal percentage. Wheeling was only able to get off one shot on the day, but that was all they needed as Gracelynn Hanna picked up her first collegiate goal, putting the shot on net. Gabby Bortolussi rounded out the offensive effort, finishing with an assist on the day.

The Wheeling University Women's Soccer team returns to action on Wednesday, October 1^st, when they take on West Virginia State at 7 PM.