BABSON PARK, Fla. (October 10, 2018) – For the first time all season, the Webber International University men's soccer team battled a team ranked in the top 25 of the NAIA National Coaches' Poll, and the Warriors showed early that they came to play, applying the pressure on offense and scoring 18 minutes into the contest. In the end, Webber came up just short in double overtime against No. 21 Southeastern University, falling 2-1 on Wednesday at Warrior Field.
Instead of loading up on defense and looking to stack the box against a high-powered Southeastern offense, the Warriors looked to take the Fire by surprise with some aggressive attacking on offense.
Back-to-back shots by
David Henderson were saved away in the first minute and a half of action, a shot by
Aldo Lopez was wide in the fifth minute, and then an attempt by
Mateo Sassoni was blocked 10 minutes and 30 seconds into the match.
The offensive effort combined with six missed shots by the Fire paid off as Sassoni took a pass from
MacKinley Burns in the 18th minute and beat his defender for the score to get the scoring started and give Webber a 1-0 lead over a top-25 team.
It was the third goal in two matches and fifth of the season for Sassoni, a freshman from Buenos Aires, Argentina. For Burns, a sophomore from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, the assist was his third of the season and represented his second straight match with a helper.
The Warriors nearly made it a 2-0 lead two and a half minutes later as a shot by Burns off the pass from Sassoni went just wide.
In all, Webber was outshot 12-7 in the first half and 18-10 in regulation as Southeastern finally tied things up in the 54th minute.
In the opening overtime period, both teams had a chance to steal the victory as an attempt by
Armani D'Agostino was saved in the 96th minute and then
Thomas Debladis made his eighth save of the match for Webber with only one minute left in the period.
Debladis would then make three saves in the final overtime period, finishing with 11 on the day, before a Fire corner kick led to the winning goal with two minutes left to play.
"To be in the position we were in entering the match with four straight losses and playing against the number one team in our conference and a squad ranked No. 21 in the nation, I am proud of the fight our guys put forward. There were several times we could have won the game including hitting the crossbar in the second half. The boys know they deserve more and I hope by the end of the season, their hard work will be rewarded by making the conference tournament."
Webber fell to 4-6-2 overall and 1-5-0 in The Sun Conference while Southeastern improved to 9-1-1 and 5-0-0. It was yet another one-goal decision for Webber, which has yet to see a match decided by two or more goals so far this season.
The Warriors will now have over a week off from action, and will not return to the pitch until Saturday, October 20, at 7 p.m. at St. Thomas University.
