Babson Park, FL – The Webber International Men's Lacrosse team hosted the Taylor Trojans Saturday afternoon on the Warrior Turf Field. The Warriors dominated both sides of the ball all game and came out victorious with a 21-4 victory to open the 2024 season.
Joshua Cargile won the opening faceoff to kick off the season and Webber got to work. Cade McCarron quickly got to work, firing a shot into the net to start scoring. Starting goalie Ryan Prylinski grabbed his first of 16 saves on the afternoon soon after. Five minutes into the first quarter, the Trojans were able to tie the game on a goal, and that would be the closest they got for the rest of the game. Cargile won another faceoff with Samuel Henry on the ground ball. Blake Nelson took a shot that went high before connecting on his next shot to make it 2-1. Christian Tapia scored the next goal off an assist from Chase Jackson on a man-up opportunity. Bentley King scored a minute later and Jackson found the net soon after, making the score 5-1. King took two more shots that were saved, heading into the second quarter with the score staying the same.
Houston Finlayson found the net early in the second quarter, with McCarron finding his stick for an assist. Jackson and King both scored again for the Warriors, with King's goal making the score 8-1 Warriors with eight and a half minutes left in the half. Another save from Prylinski set up a Warrior score, as Finlayson and Jackson both took shots at the goal before Jackson found the net again. Prylinksi had two more saves in the second quarter while also conceding a goal to head to halftime with the Warriors up 9-2.
Webber came out of the break with a new fire, scoring right off of the opening faceoff, won again by Cargile. Jackson started a five-minute run where Webber was seemingly able to score at will. Jeremiah Loo scored his first goal of the day off the feed from Jackson, before scoring again a minute later. Nelson scored again for Webber off another Jackson assist. Loo and Finlayson scored again before Taylor was finally able to get a shot off in the second half, which was saved by Prylinski. Nelson raced down the field and scored on the Trojans again before Daniel McClure scored as well. Prylinski got three more saves before the Trojans were able to get another goal, making the score 17-3. Loo found the back of the net once more in the third quarter, taking the Warriors into the fourth quarter with an 18-3 lead.
Riley Graves took over in goal for Prylinski in the fourth quarter, quickly going to work and getting his first save of the day. After multiple shots from the Warriors, McCarron scored again. Loo scored again on a man-up opportunity. Graves made three more saves for the Warriors before Liam Murphy was brought in to close the game. Murphy made two quick saves, before Dillon Ziemba scored the final time for the Warriors. The Trojans found the back of the net behind Murphy for their last goal of the game. The Warriors came out victorious 21-4, starting the season off with a win for the third straight season.
Loo led the team with five goals. Jackson had four as well as five assists to lead the team with nine total points. Nelson had three goals, while McCarron, Finlayson, and King all had two goals. In the goal, Prylinksi had 16 saves, Graves had six and Murphy had two.
When asked about the game, Head Coach Chris Burdick said "We're excited to get the season started. Our players and coaches have worked very hard to prepare for today and for the most part we played a strong game against a well-coached and athletic group from Taylor. I was impressed with the play of Josh Cargile at the face off and Ryan Prylinski was very solid today in the net. We have some things that need to get cleaned up when we get into the film this weekend for sure but it's a good start for our squad."
The Warriors will be back in action on Saturday, February 17^th when they host the Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs at 1 PM.
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