Elkins, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team (8-6, 5-2) began their second run through the Mountain East Conference (MEC) when they traveled to Elkins, West Virginia on Thursday. The Cardinals would start their second run through conference play against Davis & Elkins, with both offenses clicking on all cylinders as they combined to score 31 goals. In the end, it would be the Cardinals that would win the back and forth, securing an 18-13 win to move to 5-2 in MEC play.  

Leading the effort for the Cardinals was senior Sophia Cirone, who set a career-high with eight goals in the contest, while adding one assist, to finish with nine points. She would get the scoring started just three minutes into the contest, taking the ball to the net to give Wheeling a 1-0 lead. The senior would end up playing a part in two of the Cardinal's first three goals and, despite the high scoring game, the first period was relatively quiet. Davis & Elkins had a quick response, getting on the board one minute later and the game would sit tied at 1-1 for the next six minutes. The Senators took their first lead of the night at the 6:11 mark, but the Cardinal leadership got going once again. Trinity Rose would get the ball in her stick and scored the second unassisted goal of the day as Wheeling tied things up at 2-2. Cirone would get in on the action once again to close out the quarter, scoring her second unassisted goal of the day and the Cardinals had a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes of play.  

Finishing right behind her was Rose, who got on the board in the first quarter and would finish her day with six goals and one assist to finish with seven points in the effort. After getting on the board with the team' s second goal of the day, she would go off in the second quarter, scoring three of her six goals before the half. Davis & Elkins would tie the game forty seconds into the quarter, but senior Jovie Noack got the Cardinals back on top, scoring on a pass from Klara Domachowska. Cirone would score her third unassisted goal of the day and Domachowska added a free position goal and, with 8:40 to go before halftime the Cardinals had their biggest lead of the night at 6-3. The Senators would break the run at the 7:46 mark, but Rose got things going with an unassisted goal a minute and a half later and the Cardinals were back in action. Rose would rattle off three of the next four goals, with two of them being unassisted, and Wheeling was out to a 10-4 lead with 2:02 to play in the half.  

Davis & Elkins would score with 1:20 mark, and Rose would ensure the Cardinals lead going into halftime. She would score twice in the final minute, scoring in an assisted goal from Kara Bradley and adding an unassisted goal with 14 seconds to go before the half. It would give Wheeling a 12-5 lead heading into the locker room, as Wheeling looked to seal the win. The shots were even in the first half, with Davis & Elkins holding a 22-21 advantage, while Wheeling pit 14 shots in goal compared to 12 for the Senators. However, the Senators would not go down quietly, coming out of the half and scoring four straight goals over eight minutes to cut into Wheeling's lead at 12-9. The Cardinals would have to find the way to break the run, and it would be Cirone who would do just that. She would score her fifth unassisted goal of the day and Wheeling would get back out in front 13-9. She would score once more unassisted at the 5:42 mark and she helped the Cardinals extend their advantage to 14-9. 

The final goal in the run would come on a Rose assist as she connected with Macy Davies to make it a 15-9 lead. Davis & Elkins would score once more before the quarter was out, and the Cardinals held a 15-10 play heading into the final 15 minutes. The Senators would get as close as 15-11, before the seniors locked up the Cardinals win. Noack would get the scoring started with an unassisted goal, and Cirone would finish out the scoring, with her final two goals of the night. The first came on an assist from Brooke Jeffery, while she scored an unassisted goal to round out the night. Davis & Elkins would score two more times before the end of regulation, and the Cardinals would pick up the 18-13 win. It moved the Cardinals to 5-2 in conference play, giving them their most conference wins since the 2019 season, when they went 7-3. 

Along with Rose and Cirone's success, three other Cardinals would get on the scoresheet to round out the 18-goal effort. Jovie Noack would score twice, putting all five shots she took on net, while Macy Davies and Klara Domachowska each added a goal to round out the day. Domachowska and Kara Bradley would add the final two assists on the night, rounding out a 23-point day for the Wheeling offense. The defensive effort was led by Brooke Jeffery, who finished with two caused turnovers, three ground balls, and three draw controls to keep the Wheeling offense going. Giavonna Perkins would round out the day with the start in net, and made 20 saves on 33 shots to finish with a .606 save percentage on the day. 

The Wheeling University Women's Lacrosse team returns to action on Sunday, April 12th, when they host The University of Charleston with opening draw at 2 PM.