WHEELING, W.Va. -- The Yellow Jacket women's soccer team started the North Division part of the 2022 campaign Sunday with a victory over the then-second-place team in the MEC North, Wheeling Cardinals, and left the stadium with another victory. The Yellow Jackets (9-0-1, 7-0-1 MEC) used a three-goal second half to put away the Cardinals (4-6, 4-4 MEC) 4-1. Fran Soares-Cupertino scored her league-leading 14th goal of the season and picked up her sixth assist in the match. Sandra Linares put two goals on the scoreboard for WVSU, including the eventual game-winner.

WVSU continued the trend of peppering the opposing goal keeper, taking 13 shots at goal in the first half alone, with six of them finding the target. Wheeling goalkeeper Mikayla Yarwood was up to the task on all but one of them. State was called for offside in the 28th minute, but an errant pass on the free kick by Wheeling allowed Brooklyn Pritt to gather the ball and make a high arcing pass that found the head of Soares-Cupertino. She caught the goalie out of the goal and headed it into the right side causing Yarwood to watch it tickle the twine and put the Jackets up 1-0. The score remained one goal at the halftime horn.

State continued taking shot after shot, eventually accumulating 15 additional shots in the second half with 11 of them finding the target. Linares scored her first of the match just four minutes into the second half with a little help from Soares-Cupertino. Linares scored her second of the match less then two minutes later, this time from Brooklyn Pritt. Esther Dhiramo was cut down on a breakaway by Wheeling Sam Faulkner in the 73rd minute, earning Faulkner a yellow card and allowing Dhiramo to score on a spot kick to complete the Yellow Jacket scoring. Wheeling's Braedynn Porter scored on a kick from the penalty spot in the 77th minute for the final score of the match. 

The Yellow Jackets fired a season-high 28 shots toward the goal with a total of 17 of them finding the mark. The Jackets took mode shots in the first half than Wheeling did in the entire match with the Cardinals only managing 10 shots and five finding the target. Laura Galindo saved four of them.

State returns home on Wednesday for another cross-divisional matchup against the West Liberty Hilltoppers. Kickoff at Lakin-Ray Field at Dickerson Stadium is scheduled for 6:00 PM.