WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (October 24, 2020) – Exactly 10 days after the Warriors earned their biggest win of the season, a 2-1 upset victory over nationally-recognized Southeastern University in The Sun Conference Game of the Week, the Webber International University men's soccer team again played in the TSC Game of the Week for the second week in a row, but unfortunately the Warriors fell 3-0 against No. 22 nationally-ranked Keiser University on Saturday.
Although it was the first match in a full week for Webber (4-6 overall, 3-5 The Sun Conference), which is in fourth place in The Sun Conference standings, it was the first action since October 7 for Keiser (7-0, 5-0), which remained undefeated and continued to improve on its best start in program history.
In the first meeting earlier this season between Webber and Keiser on September 26 in Babson Park, Florida, the Warriors held the Seahawks to without a goal until the 55th minute before falling by a score of 2-0.
This time around, however, the match started very similarly to the previous meeting as neither team scored until Keiser finally got on the board with only 13 seconds left before halftime.
After each of the first 16 shots of the first half were by the Seahawks, the Warriors nearly got on the board first with a shot off the crossbar in the 41st minute by
Andy Obregon after the cross by
Prince James. It was eerily similar to the shot off the crossbar by
David Negrin Ruiz that nearly put the Warriors ahead early in the match during the first meeting between Webber and Keiser.
In all, the Warriors were outshot 17-1 in the first half before limiting the Seahawks to only seven shots in the second half.
Earning his first start of the season in goal was
Fabricio Verdun, who did a great job in the first half with five saves before finishing with six.
Less than five minutes into the second half, Obregon had Webber's only shot on goal of the match that was saved in the 50th minute, and then in the 53rd minute,
Jay Skelcher-Maxwell had a shot blocked two minutes before Keiser scored again to make it 2-0.
Both of Keiser's first and final goals of the match came from Luca Malvicini and were assisted by Lucas Jacobs, who also scored the second goal for the Seahawks.
With only two matches remaining in the regular season, Webber will play its final road match of the year on Wednesday, October 28, as the Warriors battle Ave Maria University under the lights at 7 p.m. Webber's Senior Day and regular-season finale will then take place at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 31, as the Warriors host Crooked Lake rival Warner University. Webber will hope to finish off the regular season on a high note after already defeating by the Gyrenes and the Royals by two goals earlier this season.