#10 Webber Warriors Open NAIA Invitational with Victory over Madonna
WESTFIELD, Ind. (February 24, 2023) – The Webber International University men’s lacrosse team traveled over 1,000 miles north to take part in the NAIA Invitational where it first faced Madonna University on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors fell behind in the first quarter but bounced back to earn a 15-7 victory.
The Warriors (3-0 overall) dominated the Crusaders (0-1) in both shots, 45-26, as well as face-offs, 20-5.
Madonna scored the first two goals of the game to take an early 2-0 lead. An unassisted goal by Jeremiah Loo got the Warriors on the board with just under four minutes left in the quarter. Following another goal by the Crusaders, Cade McCarron found the back of the cage with just eight seconds left to cut the deficit to one. After falling behind 4-2 early in the second quarter, the Warriors then caught fire, scoring five in a row to take a 7-5 lead. Leading the way was Nick Sheaffer with a second-quarter hat-trick as Webber held an 8-5 lead at the break.
The Warriors scored five more unanswered goals to open the second half as they extended their lead yet further to 13-5. Sheaffer tallied his fifth goal of the game while Houston Finlayson netted twice in the third quarter. Webber held the Crusaders scoreless in the fourth and added two more goals to seal the 15-7 victory.
Leading the way offensively was Sheaffer with five goals and an assist while Chase Jackson tallied a goal and five assists, both earned six points in total for the game. Finlayson earned his hat-trick and added an assist as well. McCarron finished with two goals followed by Christian Tapia, Jack Cross, and Sam Shields all with a goal each.
Hunter Scott performed well from the spot, winning 20 of his 24 face-offs and leading the team in ground balls with 12. Jack Ostrander followed with a total of five ground balls and a caused turnover. Riley Roy added four ground balls and led the team in caused turnovers with two.
The Warriors will now face top-10 opposition for the first time this season as they take on No. 4 Aquinas College in game two of the NAIA Invitational at 1 p.m. today, February 24th.
