Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team (2-3, 0-0) took full advantage of their spring break schedule last week, picking up their first two wins of the 2026 season. They look to carry that momentum with them on the road for a midweek Wednesday match-up with #7 Slippery Rock, with opening draw at 4 PM. It will be the first meeting against a ranked opponent since the team was brought back in 2025, and the Cardinals look to continue their offensive success on the road.
Last time out, the Cardinals took on Lake Erie College in a historic effort for the offensive unit. The team tied the single-game goals record, putting up 25 goals to tie the single-game goal record that they set a year ago. The onslaught started right from the get-go, with the team scoring six goals in the first seven minutes of play to take a 6-0 advantage. Lake Erie would get on the board at the 4:40 mark of the first, but Wheeling would score 16 goals over the first 30 minutes. They headed into the halftime break with a 16-2 lead, and got to put their depth pieces in for the second half. They continued right where the starters left off, adding nine more goal to the effort over the final 30 minutes of play. Included in that were two different players scoring the first goals of their careers as the Cardinals improved to 2-3 on the season.
Leading the effort was junior Trinity Rose, who came back to the field with a bang after missing Tuesday's contest. The junior midfielder finished with a team-best seven goals while adding one assist to total eight points in the contest. She was the catalyst for the Cardinal's hot start, scoring four of the Cardinal's first six goals and totaling six goals on the 9-1 Wheeling run to start the game. The junior was efficient throughout the day, putting each of her seven shots in the back of the net, while assisting one one of the Cardinal's nine goals in the second half. The effort helped propel Rose to the top of the Cardinal leaderboards, tying for the team lead with 13 goals this season, while sitting four with five assists and second with 18 points. As the Cardinals prepare for their toughest challenge of the season yet, Rose will look to continue to be a leader on the field.
Wrapping up a strong week on the field was senior Jovie Noack, who finished with three goals and four assists in the win over Lake Erie. It wrapped up a week that saw her finish with 10 goals and five assists, totaling 15 points in the 2-0 week for the Cardinals. For her efforts, she was named the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Co-Offensive Player of the Week, and looks to continue being a leader on the offensive side of the ball. Rounding out the offensive effort was Sophia Cirone, who finished with three goals and two assists, to total five points in the contest. Cirone has been right up there with the Cardinal's top scorers this season, sitting third on the team with nine goals on the season while totaling 15 points. The Cardinal's senior leadership will play an important role in the final week of non-conference play, leading the team on the field.
With one week of non-conference play to go before the MEC schedule, the Cardinals will have to keep their momentum going away from Bishop Schmitt Field. They will travel to Slippery Rock on Wednesday and follow that up with a trip to Findlay on Saturday. Wheeling has come back nicely this past week, scoring 41 combined goals between the two games, With a young defense behind them, the offense will be relied on to keep the ball in the offensive zone and create scoring chances. Wheeling has upped their scoring average over the last two games, averaging 12.4 goals per game during that span, and they look to continue that average. They have scored double-digit goals in three of their five games this season, and will need to hit at least that mark in this battle with Slippery Rock.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and the Rock are meeting for the fifth time in program history, with Slippery Rock leading the all-time series at 4-0. It is the renewal of the rivalry after a nine-year hiatus, with the two teams meeting for the first time since the 2017 season. Wheeling is 0-2 all-time when they make the trip to Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, and is averaging four goals per game in the all-time series.
The last meeting between the two teams came on April 5th, 2017, in a game Slippery Rock would win 14-3. Three different Cardinals would score the three goals in the game, with former Cardinals Elizabeth Hales, Mary Burns, and Lyndsay Carpenter all getting on the board. On the defensive end, former Cardinal Austin Maire made 10 saves on 24 shots faced, while Carpetner led the way with three caused turnovers.
The Details
Opening draw for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 4 PM inside Mihalik-Thompson Stadium on the campus of Slippery Rock. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
