Babson Park, FL. - The Webber International women's soccer team hosted the Florida Memorial Lions on Wednesday afternoon for the second matchup between the two squads. The Warrior seniors were honored during halftime of the game, and the celebration of their seniors ignited the Warriors offense to score two second half goals to defeat the Lions 2-0 on senior night.
 
The first half featured a multitude of scoring opportunities for the Warriors as they would take eight shots including the majority of possession. Ariana Suarez would get the first shot on target for the Warriors in the 8^th minute and force the Lions goalkeeper, Maria Goncalves Guimares, to make her first save of the afternoon. Maddie Manzke had a breakaway opportunity in the 20^th minute for the Warriors, but Goncalves Guimares was up to the challenge and made the save. Manzke would also pick up an early yellow card in the 29^th minute that foreshadowed some chippy behavior later in the game. The Lions played a relatively passive half of soccer committing no fouls, but still being able to take seven shots and forcing Cameron Laine, the Warrior keeper, to record three saves to keep the game tied going into halftime.
 
The Warriors would celebrate their seniors during the halftime intermission, with the following seniors being honored: Faith Cullen-Cooper, Deborah Guillen, Ashley Dakis, Becky Wilkins, Maddie Manzke, Hannah Esson, Angelina Severino, Atlanta Kishbaugh, Abie LaRocca, Leah McDaid, Cameron Laine, and the team manager Natalia Romero. Every senior was celebrated, and the Warriors would use the energy from halftime to fuel their second half push.
 
To start the second half the Warriors would make some lineup changes, inserting Atlanta Kishbaugh into net for the Warriors. Kishbaugh would be responsible for three saves in the second half and made an incredible diving save in the 64^th minute to stop the Lions striker from finding the back of the net. The second half was a lot more physical and chippy between the two teams, as there were a combined 15 fouls throughout the second 45 minutes. The Warriors would start to hit their offensive stride in the 54^th minute following a yellow card from the Lions, Cullen-Cooper and Essie Diaz would both get opportunities at goal, but the Lions keeper would get them both off the scorer's sheet on those attempts. Following another Lions yellow card in the 56^th minute, the Warriors would finally breakthrough in the 63^rd minute with a shot from distance from the senior Deb Guillen as she would find the back of the net, beating the Lions keeper, to give the Warriors a 1-0 advantage. The Warriors would continue to push and following three more shots in a 15-minute span, the Warriors would add to their lead in the 79^th minute with a goal from senior Maddie Manzke assisted by fellow senior Leah McDaid. Although the Warriors held a 2-0 lead with less than 10 minutes to play, the Lions continued to play aggressive and following a scuffle between both teams on the near sideline in the 84^th minute, Irati Elorudy was shown a red card for the Lions, and Hannah Esson received a red card as well for her role in the debacle. The final six minutes would go by and the final whistle blew giving the Warriors their dominate 2-0 senior night victory to even the season series with the Lions.
 
The Warriors will hit the road on Saturday evening as they will travel to Lakeland, FL to take on the #12 Southeastern Fire at 7 PM.
 
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