Babson Park, FL – The Webber International Men's Soccer team opened the 2025 campaign with a fast start but fell, 3–2, to Florida Memorial on Thursday afternoon in Babson Park. Jesus Perez delivered an early brace—striking in the 11th minute and again in the 21st off a service from Gregor Graham—to stake the Warriors to a 2–0 lead. The Lions pulled one back just before halftime, following a two hour weather delay, on a 42nd-minute penalty to make it 2–1 at the break.
The Warriors dictated much of the first half with pressure and set pieces, earning three corners in the opening 21 minutes and forcing multiple saves. Perez's opener arrived amid that spell, and his second came eight minutes later after Graham's delivery split the back line. Webber also produced two goal-line stops to preserve the advantage—first from Tyler Keating and later from Brandon Apon—before the late penalty trimmed the margin.
Florida Memorial equalized four minutes into the second half through Mohamed Sadiki and kept applying pressure, but Webber created chances to reclaim the lead. Miguel da Silva rattled the post in the 66th minute, and headers from Graham in the 65th and 80th minutes forced strong saves from Lions goalkeeper Ricardo Delgado Villalobos. The decisive moment came in the 80th minute when the visitors converted a second penalty through Nasreddine Benbella; Webber keeper Alvaro Garcia finished with four second-half saves to keep the Warriors within reach.
By the numbers, Webber out-shot Florida Memorial 15–13 and put eight attempts on frame, but the Lions were more clinical with two penalties and nine shots on target. Delgado Villalobos totaled six saves for FMU, while the Warriors' discipline was tested with five yellow cards on the day. It was a physical non-conference opener—both teams were whistled for 18 fouls—as Webber moved to 0-1-0 with lessons to carry into the next outing.
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