Wheeling, W. Va. - After battling through the 2026 season, it was time for the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Sunday night at Bishop Schmitt Field. For the second year in a row, the Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team (10-8, 6-4) would host Davis & Elkins in the play-in game and, for the second year in a row, the Cardinals would come away with a 14-11 victory. The Senators battled throughout the night, staging a late comeback effort, but the Cardinals were able to hold on to advance to Thursday's semifinal game at Frostburg State.
After the First Team All-MEC honorees were honored in a pregame ceremony with MEC Commissioner Reid Amos, the action started with the Cardinals looking for the three-game season sweep over the Senators. It would take just a minute and a half for the Cardinals to get on the board after a Lela Plouse caused turnover gave the Cardinals the ball. Klara Domachowska would complete the successful clear, and finished all the way to the net to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. However, the Senators were not too far behind, them, scoring just a minute and a half later, and the score was knotted up at 1-1. The two teams would trade the first four goals of the game, with Trinity Rose scoring the second Wheeling goal on a pass from Jovie Noack at the 9:29 mark, but the Wheeling lead was erased two minutes late. Both teams were looking to make a run, and the Cardinals would have the first at the 5:46 mark.
It was once again a caused turnover, this time by Julia Daniels, that got the Cardinals the ball and it would be Rose bringing the ball up the field. She would connect with Sophia Cirone and the Cardinals were back in front 3-2. Brooke Jeffery would win the ensuing draw control for the Cardinals and it was once again Rose setting up the offe,se. This time, she would connect with Noack, who scored her first goal of the day and the Cardinals had a two-goal lead in the span of a minute. The Senators would have one more answer before the end of the first quarter, scoring at the 3:05 mark and the game went to the second with Wheeling leading 4-3. The Senators would bring things back to even once again with 13:52 to go before the half, but the tie lasted just 12 seconds as Rose one the ensuing draw control and got the ball to Macy Davies. Davies would make her way to the net and the Cardinals would take a 5-4 lead.
It was the first of three straight unassisted goals for the Cardinals, with Cirone and Daniels each adding unassisted goals as Wheeling got out to their biggest lead of the night at 7-4 with 6:55 to go before halftime. The Cardinal defense would stand tall the rest of the half, with Giavonna Perkins making four saves down the stretch, and the Cardinals headed into halftime with a 7-4 lead. As they came out of the break, it was once again Davies who got on the board, taking a pass from Cirone and finding the back of the net to make it an 8-4 game. However, Davis & Elkins would respond with two goals in the span of a minute, and Wheeling's lead was cut in half to 8-6 with 13:24 to go in the quarter.
Things slowed down after the early flurry of offense, with the next goal coming at the 7:57 mark of the third. Wheeling would get the ball back after a Davis & Elkins green card, and Rose would bring the ball up the field. She would find the back of the net to give Wheeling a 9-6 lead, and then won the next draw control to get the ball back on Wheeling's side. Just over a minute later, Cirone was set up with a free position, and found the back of the net to get the Cardinals to double digits. It was the first of back-to-back free position goals for the senior, and the flurry of offense rounded out with an unassisted goal from Trinity Rose as the Cardinals scored three goals in a minute and a half to take a 12-6 lead. After a Davis & Elkins response stopped the run, Noack would find Rose with 2:23 to play in the quarter to make it a 13-7 Cardinal lead.
Davis & Elkins scored one more time in the final seconds of the quarter, and with 15 minutes to play Wheeling held a 13-8 lead. The Cardinals would be the ones to start the fourth quarter scoring, when Cirone notched her fifth goal of the day in a man-up situation with 12 minutes to play to make it a 14- 8 game. Davis & Elkins would not go down without a fight, scoring the final three goals of the game. The first two of those would be back-to-back strikes at the 8:37 mark, and it would be a four-goal game with eight minutes to play. A minute and a half later, they cut that lead to three on a Izzie Sevila goal and the Cardinal defense would lock in leading 14-11. Perkins would ice the game for the Cardinals, making three crucial saves down the stretch, and Wheeling would finish out the 14-11 win to advance to the semifinals.
Leading the effort for the Cardinals was Sophia Cirone, who finished with five goals and one assist to total six point in the effort. It wrapped up what has been a strong two years for Cirone at Bishop Schmitt Field and gives her a total of 17 points over her last two games. Trinity Rose was right behind her, finishing with four goals and two assists, totaling six points, while Klara Domachowska and MAcy Davies each added two goals in the effort. Giavonna Perkins would have a big day in net, making 11 saves on 21 shots faced, while Trinity Rose led the draw control game with seven, and Cirone led the way with four caused turnovers.
The Wheeling Women's Lacrosse team returns to action on Thursday, April 30th, when they take on Frostburg State in the MEC Semifinal game at 6 PM.
