Black Mountain, NC – The 9th ranked Webber International Men's Lacrosse team battled even through three quarters, but a big fourth-quarter surge by Montreat sent the Warriors to a 14-10 Appalachian Athletic Conference loss on Saturday afternoon at Pulliam Stadium in Black Mountain, North Carolina. The two sides were tied 2-2 after the first quarter, 5-5 at halftime, and 6-6 midway through the third before Montreat used a late run to pull away.
The Warriors struck first just 1:14 into the match when Benjamin Sheldon scored off an assist from Nick Sheaffer at the 13:46 mark of the opening quarter. Sheaffer then added an unassisted goal with 8:17 left in the period to give Webber an early 2-0 advantage. Montreat answered with a pair of goals from Landon LaGro, including one with 2:25 remaining in the quarter, to even the score at 2-2 heading into the second.
Montreat opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals to move in front 4-2, but Webber responded each time the Cavaliers tried to create separation. Sheldon cut the deficit to 4-3 with 10:24 left in the half, Ethan Baker scored at the 5:09 mark to make it 5-4, and Sheaffer tied the match at 5-5 with 2:40 remaining before the break off an assist from Malachi LaRue.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the third. Montreat regained the lead at 6-5 on Eli Graziosi's goal with 8:57 left, but Joseph Xiarhos answered for the Warriors with 3:01 remaining off a feed from Baker to knot the score again at 6-6. Montreat then found the go-ahead goal with 51 seconds left in the quarter, taking a 7-6 lead into the final 15 minutes.
The decisive stretch came in the fourth, when Montreat scored five straight goals to build an 11-6 lead. Two man-up goals from D'Andrae McKenzie and one from LaGro fueled the run as the Cavaliers capitalized on extra-man chances. Webber refused to go away, getting a goal from Sheldon with 3:02 left and back-to-back scores from Sheaffer in a span of 18 seconds to cut the margin to 11-9. After Montreat answered, Xiarhos converted a man-up opportunity with 53 seconds left to make it 12-10, but the Cavaliers closed the game with two short-handed goals in the final 17 seconds.
Sheaffer led the Warriors with four goals and one assist, while Sheldon finished with a hat trick. Xiarhos added two goals, and Baker chipped in a goal and an assist. Israel Miranda was strong at the faceoff X, winning 15 of 24 draws and collecting 14 ground balls, while Colton Renkiewicz made 11 saves in goal. Webber finished with advantages in faceoffs won (18-9) and ground balls (37-32), but Montreat turned its extra-man opportunities into the difference in the closing quarter.
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