Babson Park, FL – The Webber International Men's Soccer team played their final home regular season match of the 2024 season on Monday afternoon against their Crooked Lake rivals the Warner Royals. The Warriors took home the victory from their first match earlier in the season in Lake Wales, 2-1 and were looking to hold onto the Crooked Lake Cup another season with a successful result against the Royals on Monday. The Warriors would score the opening goal in the early part of the first half, but a late equalizer from the Royals would tie the match up which resulted in a 1-1 tie, but meant the Warriors held onto the Cup for another season.
The Warriors were looking to build up momentum from their matchup with the Royals on Monday afternoon to take into their playoff game on Thursday afternoon against the Fire. The Warriors would jump on the board first from a magnificent individual effort from KJ Mann who dribbled down into the Royals box and played the perfect pass into Johnathan Mindegaard who finished off the play with a clinical shot into the bottom left corner to give the Warriors the early 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Ben Parkinson, who played the first 45 minutes in goal for the Warriors, recorded four saves in the first half to keep the Warriors lead in tact going into halftime.
The Warriors would look to Ethan Kibell to resume goalkeeping duties in the second half, and he would make three saves in net. The offense for the Warriors would get another 10 shots off at net in the second half, but there one goal in the first half would be their only goal of the match. The Royals would find a way to equalize in the 69th minute from Vlad Anderson, to bring the score back tied 1-1. Given the result of the first match of the two sides, the Warriors would conclude the 2024 season winning the Crooked Lake Cup from the Royals.
The Warriors will start their SUN Conference playoffs with a matchup with the Southeastern Fire on Thursday afternoon at 4:30 PM in Lakeland, Florida.
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