Babson Park, FL – The Webber International Men's Soccer team celebrated their Seniors on Saturday afternoon in their SUN Conference matchup with the New College of Florida Mighty Banyans. All six seniors that were honored started in the game for the Warriors, and the experience and leadership paid dividends for the Warriors down the stretch. After a hard-fought battle through 95% of the match, Jesus Perez set the Warriors up for victory off a pass from Gian Luca Fink, he buried the game winning goal to give the Warriors the 1-0 victory on Senior Day over the Mighty Banyans.
The Mighty Banyans came out of the gates hot with three quick shots at goal in the first two minutes. Ben Parkinson, the Warriors senior goalkeeper, would make the save on the first shot and the next two went wide. David Gomez, another Warrior senior, would take the first shot at goal for the Warriors on the day but his shot was blocked in the 17th minute of the first half. Parkinson would be challenged three more times in the first half, but the senior was up to the task and ended his senior day with nine saves and the clean sheet.
The celebrated seniors for the Warriors at halftime were Ben Parkinson, David Gomez, KJ Mann, Rodrigo Catala, Marco De Rosa, Rafael Cagnin. All seniors were celebrated by teammates, coaches, and family in attendance and got ready for second half of action.
The second half was physical from the beginning whistle with the Mighty Banyans picking three straight fouls and a yellow card, and the Warriors adding on two of their own fouls for good measure. Perez would take his first shot on target in the 59th minute, but the Mighty Banyans keeper was there to keep the game scoreless. Both squads began making an influx of substitutions as the second half began to unravel looking for the spark to push their team ahead. Parkinson would record his last save of the match in the 87th minute and the Warriors would begin to push in the final minutes. Both sides gassed and looking for extra strength in their legs to find the winning goal it was the battle of mental fortitude, and Jesus Perez would have the answer. Fink marched the ball up the midfield, played the through ball to Perez, and he put the finish on the Warriors game winning goal in the 89th minute to notch them their fifth win of the season.
The Warriors will travel for their next match on Monday, October 21st, in a makeup game against the Florida Memorial University Lions at 12:00 PM in Miami Gardens, FL.
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