Harrogate, TN – Lincoln Memorial men's lacrosse started the 2026 season with a 15-8 victory over Wheeling Saturday afternoon at home.

The Railsplitters got on the board early in the first quarter as Gavin Reid tallied his first goal of the day off an assist from Alex Wegrzyn with 12:41 remaining. LMU struck again shortly after when Brixten McKenzie scored unassisted, and. Reid added his second of the quarter off a Koen Burdette assist. Wegrzyn scored a goal of his own with 3:15 remaining, and Wheeling finally got on the scoreboard late in the quarter with 28 seconds remaining, giving Lincoln Memorial a 4-0 advantage after the opening frame.

Domenico Moscato began the scoring as he increased the Railsplitters' lead with 14:27 remaining, unassisted. After Wheeling scored a goal with 12:22 remaining, Lincoln Memorial then answered as Beckett O'Shea scored a goal assisted by Jenson Jones. The Cardinals added two more goals with 10:14 and 8:42 remaining. Jones (Becket O'Shea) and Alex Winters (Jones) finished out the quarter with a goal each with 7:53 remaining and 2:13 remaining, giving LMU the 8-4 lead going into halftime. 

The Railsplitters continued to pull away in the third quarter as Wegrzyn added another goal, assisted by Reid, with 14:47 remaining, followed by Moscato scoring off of a Wegrzyn assist with 5:48 remaining. Scott Triolo added another goal for LMU with 4:03 remaining before Wheeling's responded with a goal with 22 seconds remaining, making it 11-5 after the third.

In the fourth, Jones scored off an Winters assist with 12:37 remaining. Then Wheeling answered with 9:24 remaining. LMU continued to extend the lead with O'Shea, Triolo (off an assist from Lucas Barsauskas) and Koen Burdette all adding goals with 7:53, 5:26, and 3:27 remaining, respectively.. Wheeling closed the scoring with two goals in the last two minutes, but the Railsplitters held on for the 15-8 win.

Lincoln Memorial was led offensively by Alex Wegrzyn and Jenson Jones, who each finished with four points on two goals and two assists. Gavin Reid and Beckett O'Shea followed with three points each, both recording two goals and one assist. Alex Winters and Koen Burdette each added two points with a goal and an assist, while Domenico Moscato and Scott Triolo contributed two goals each. Brixten McKenzie finished with one goal, and Barsauskas added one assist. Connor Fitzgibbon and Jayden Herman both got time in goal, with Fitzgibbon recording four saves and Herman with seven. McKenzie also won 13/15 face offs. 

Reid led the team in shots with 11, and Reid and Moscato were the team-leaders in shots on goal with four each. McKenzie led in ground balls with seven, and eight different Railsplitters each had one caused turnover. 

As a team, LMU out shot Wheeling 50-36, recorded 25 shots on goal, 23 successful clears, 35 ground balls, and 18 won face offs. 

With the win, LMU improves to 1-0 overall and Wheeling drops to 0-1 overall.

Lincoln Memorial next's match will be on the road as they travel to Greenwood, SC to face Lander on Saturday, February 14th at 2 pm.