Men's Lacrosse Drops Weekend Finale to Quincy University
Romeoville, IL. – The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team (0-2, 0-0) wrapped up their season-opening weekend in Illinois on Sunday when they took on Quincy University. The Eagles had a strong start and Wheeling would end up not being able to catch up falling 13-3. Three different Cardinals scored on the day, as Wheeling scored in the second, third, and fourth quarters.
After getting the start in the team's opener, Joshua Wolford was once again in net and did some good work early on. Over the first four minutes of the game, Wolford made three saves to keep the Eagles off the board. However, the offense would get to him as Quincy scored their first goal at the 10:56 mark and took a 1-0 lead. After allowing just two goals in the first half yesterday, the Eagles jumped on their early opportunities, notching two more goals in the next two minutes to bring the score to 3-0. By the end of that first quarter, the Eagles scored five goals and led Wheeling 5-0. The Cardinals took their fair share of shots in the first, totaling seven, but only put two of those shots on net.
The start of the second quarter went about the same as the first, with Quincy adding three more goals to expand their lead to 8-0 with 9:54 to play before halftime. Four minutes later, Wheeling would get their offense going when Wolford made a save with six minutes to go. The Cardinals picked up a ground ball and got the ball in the hands of Matt Anderson. Anderson took the ball upfield and took his shot to score the first goal of the night for Wheeling. It was Anderson's first career goal as a Cardinal and put Wheeling on the board. That would be the final goal of the half for either team as the score sat at 8-1. With one goal under their belt, Wheeling was looking to generate more offense in the second half.
As the second half began, Quincy wasted no time getting back on the board, scoring a goal in the first minute of the third quarter. Seven minutes later, Quincy was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Cardinals a man-up opportunity. They took advantage as Mike Andersson came through with his third goal of the season, bringing the score to 9-2. Andersson was tied for the team's leading scorer last season and has the early leg up through the first two games of 2022. Quincy added another goal to bring the score to 10-2 as the team's headed into the final quarter of play.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Wheeling's offense was on fire, keeping the ball in their offensive zone. The Cardinals rattled off five consecutive shots, but they all wet wide or were saved by Quincy. However, the Eagles would be the ones to come through adding two more goals to bring the score to 12-2 with 4:53 to play. The Cardinal's final goal of the game would come one minute later as Brody Fawver got the ball in his sticks. After a successful clear attempt from Wheeling, Fawver got the ball and scored his second goal of the season to bring the score to 12-3. One more Quincy goal with 42 seconds to play brought the game to its final score of 13-3.
The Cardinals ended the day with three-goal scorers as Anderson, Andersson, and Fawver accounted for all three goals. Andersson was also locked in a three-way tie with Jake Wodarek and Jacob Knippel with three shots on goal. Wolford played the entire 60 minutes in net for the Cardinals and made 17 saves while allowing 13 goals on the afternoon to set a new season-high. The Cardinals ended opening weekend 0-2 but got to take on some tough non-conference opponents. They look to bring that experience with them back home as they have two more weeks before beginning Great Midwest Athletic Conference play on March 1st.
The Wheeling University Men's Lacrosse team is back in action on Saturday, February 19th, when they host Davenport for their home opener at noon.