WHEELING, West Virginia --The Lake Erie men's lacrosse team traveled to G-MAC opponent Wheeling University on Tuesday, securing a thrilling 9-8 victory in a highly competitive battle. After falling behind 2-0 early in the second period, the Storm mounted a comeback, tying the game at 2-2. However, they wouldn't take their first lead until the fourth period. The Cardinals fought back to reclaim a 7-6 advantage with eight minutes remaining, but Lake Erie responded with three consecutive goals to clinch their second straight win, improving to 2-1 in conference play.

Game Recap

Wheeling came out strong on both ends of the field, controlling possession and generating 12 shot opportunities in the first period, converting on two. Defensively, the Cardinals were stifling, forcing three turnovers and saving all four of Lake Erie's shots on goal. By the end of the first, the Storm trailed 2-0.

Nearly seven minutes into the second period, the scoring drought ended when John Collins found the net off a Joey Ellison assist, putting the Storm on the board. Two minutes later, Zephaniah Scott showcased his individual skill, scoring a brilliant goal to even the score at 2-2. The Cardinals quickly responded with a goal to reclaim the lead, but Collins struck again to knot the game at 3-3. With just 47 seconds left before halftime, Wheeling added another goal, taking a 4-3 lead into the break.

The third period remained scoreless for the first 11 minutes until Andrew Cramer finally broke through for Lake Erie, tying the game once more. As they had done all night, the Cardinals answered quickly, but just before the period ended, Kyle Gardner netted his seventh goal of the season, sending the game into the fourth tied at 5-5.

Just 64 seconds into the final period, Cramer found the back of the net again, giving Lake Erie its first lead of the night. Wheeling, undeterred, fired back with two quick goals to reclaim a 7-6 advantage with eight minutes to play. But Cramer wasn't done—he completed his sixth career hat trick off a Nathan Zurowski assist to tie the game at 7-7. Moments later, a man-up opportunity allowed Tim Woods to set up Billy Coughlin for a go-ahead goal with 3:38 left. Just over a minute later, sophomore Robert Weil delivered a clutch goal, extending the lead to two.

The game, however, was far from over. Wheeling cut the deficit to one with 1:25 remaining, setting up a frantic final stretch. In the last 85 seconds, the Cardinals won the face-off, lost possession, forced a turnover, had a shot blocked, forced another turnover, and desperately tried to equalize—but time ran out as the Storm held on for the dramatic win.

Player Notes

• Andrew Cramer (3 goals) and John Collins (2 goals) led the scoring for Lake Erie. Both now have four goals this season.

• Lasse Litfin and Joey Ellison led the team with three ground balls each. Litfin is now tied with Sean Gavin and Joshua Tucker for second on the team in ground balls (11), while Ellison matched his career high for a single game.

• Nicolas Shankland and Sean Gavin each forced two turnovers, moving up to second and third on the team, respectively, in that category (trailing Joshua Tucker's nine).

• Noah Beckett continued his improvement on face-offs, going 8-for-17. After a rough start to the season (1-for-21), he has rebounded with a 17-for-32 performance over the past two games.

• Goalkeeper Gavin Conlan made nine more saves, bringing his season total to 85.

Team Notes

Despite being out-shot by a significant margin (-17, 42-25), Lake Erie managed to record more shots on goal than Wheeling (18-17).

The Cardinals held slight advantages in face-offs (13-for-22), ground balls (28-26), and were efficient on their clear attempts (18-for-20, 90%). However, thanks to Lake Erie's remarkable shooting accuracy (18 of 25 shots on goal, 72.0%—their second-best performance in the past three seasons), the Storm found a way to prevail.

Looking Ahead

Lake Erie returns home to play Davis & Elkins on Saturday, March 15th at 12 p.m. Davis & Elkins is currently 1-7 on the season and 0-1 in the G-MAC. Last season, the Storm defeated the Senators on the road 19-10.