North Canton, Oh. - The Wheeling Men's Lacrosse team's (7-7, 6-4) season came to a close after falling to Walsh 12-7 in the Great-Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Tournament quarterfinal game. The Cardinals battled hard in the fourth quarter to make it a five goal game, after falling to them 15-6 during the regular season. Despite being a young team, Men's Lacrosse has shown their dedication to the program and growth throughout the season to end .500 overall and to have a winning record in conference.
The game started off in Walsh's favor as they won the first faceoff and were able to strike first early, capitalizing on a man-up opportunity. Wheeling was able to hold Walsh for the first seven minutes, while getting their own possession at points. After Walsh's first goal, Dominico Cataldo won the next faceoff; allowing the Cardinals to answer midway through the period by Jack Rowe to tie at one. The Cardinals began to find some rhythm at the faceoff with a couple key wins to control possession. A man-up goal from Zander Thomas gave Wheeling a 2-1 advantage late in the quarter, but a late turnover allowed Walsh to even things at 2-2 to end the quarter.
Hajiyianni Marin won the first faceoff of the second quarter, but the quarter swung heavily in Walsh's favor as they began to maintain possession to score three goals in a row. Rowe added his second of the day to cut into the deficit, but Walsh continued to capitalize on extra possessions. A few key saves kept Wheeling within striking distance, but Walsh still carried a 6-3 lead into halftime.
Wheeling started to find their rhythm in the third quarter, tightening things up defensively and getting more consistent play at the faceoff to generate opportunities. Marin won the first faceoff of the quarter again, but with a Walsh save, they were able to get the ball back down to their end quickly to score. Rowe completed his hat trick early in the quarter, making it 7-4, while the Cardinals forced a couple turnovers to create momentum. However, Walsh's goalie came up with several timely saves to take time away from Wheeling. Despite improved possession and defensive effort, Wheeling was unable to fully close the gap heading into the final quarter down by four.
In the final 15 minutes, Walsh regained control behind another strong run at the faceoff , limiting Wheeling's opportunities to mount a comeback. They extended the lead to 10-4 before Rowe added another goal and Ben Tornatore converted on a man-up chance to make it 10-6. Turnovers at key moments slowed the Cardinals' momentum, and Walsh answered each push with goals of their own. Combined with a few late saves, Walsh was able to close things out, not allowing Wheeling any more looks to end the game 12-7.
Rowe led the Cardinals offensively for one last game, gaining his final career goal with five on the day. Landon Gallegher and Gage Kimmel led defensively with Gallagher having four ground balls and Kimmel causing two turnovers. The faceoffs were split evenly between Marin, Cataldo, and Mason malec. Marin and Cataldo went 4-7 on the day, while Malec went 1-7 and Nate Castner made an appearance to go 1-1. Lastly, Landen Martin stayed in goal all 60 minutes and made 12 saves on 28 shots.
The Cardinals end their season 7-7 overall and 6-4 in conference. Despite being young, Wheeling was able to have some big moments throughout the season and break some personal records, while proving their dedication to the program and game.
