Author’s Note:  Congrats to Coach Burdick and the school for kicking off thei inaugural season!  Always great to welcome another school for FLN to cover!

  via Webber press release   BOX SCORE BABSON PARK, Fla. (February 13, 2021) – The first ever official men’s lacrosse game in the history of Webber International University featured a tough matchup against the No. 5 nationally-ranked team in the NAIA, the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.), and in the end, the Warriors scored first in three of the four quarters, but ultimately fell by a final score of 19-8 on Saturday afternoon at the Warrior Turf Field. The first goal of the match came from Webber’s Chase Jackson on the assist from Dave Becker only a few seconds after he won the opening faceoff of the game. Then just over three minutes into the action, Becker scored on the assist from Alexander Kew to make it 2-1 Warriors. From there, Cumberlands flexed its muscle and scored five straight goals to close out the opening 15 minutes of Webber’s inaugural season, and then the Patriots added two more goals in the first three minutes of the second quarter to lead it 8-2. Down 12-3 at halftime, Jackson opened the second half with an early goal on the second assist of the game by Blake Nelson before Cumberlands added three more goals in the period. In the fourth quarter, Webber went a man-up on the field and took advantage, scoring three goals in the first minute and a half of the period to cut into its deficit a little bit and make the score 15-7. Jackson had a part in all three of those goals for the Warriors, scoring the first one before assisting on the next two. In addition to finishing five six points (3 goals; 2 assists), Jackson was 3-for-3 on his shot attempts. Leading the Warriors in groundballs during their inaugural game was Christian Tapia with five. In the faceoff for the Warriors, Becker won eight of his 15 faceoff attempts while Zach McCann won four of six. Webber’s Head Coach Chris Burdick said after the inaugural match, “I am really proud of our guys. To score on the opening faceoff against such a good team was a real success for us. For a young team to hang in there the way we did with the big boys, that was fun to see.” In addition to being the first ever home game for the Warriors, it was the team’s inaugural Appalachian Athletic Conference game. Next up, Webber will remain at home for a scrimmage against Ave Maria University at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 20, before hosting another AAC game against Point University at 1 p.m. on Monday, March 1.