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Warriors Defeat Defending Champions in OT

Written by Lee Roggenburg on . Posted in , , , .

via Webber press release/website

BOX SCORE

PENSACOLA, Fla. (May 10, 2023) – In the quarterfinal round of the NAIA Men’s Lacrosse Invitational, Webber International University matched up against the defending national champions, No. 4 Reinhardt University, on Thursday afternoon. A late push by the Eagles forced overtime, but the Warriors were able to take the lead and seal the victory in overtime to advance to the semifinal.

The Warriors (16-3 overall) were outshot by the Eagles (13-3), 40-31, in total for the game but forced the opposition into seven more turnovers than they committed.

Reinhardt netted the first goal of the game but Webber quickly responded with two unassisted goals of its own through Christian Britton and Jeremiah Loo, giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead. Following another goal by the Eagles, Loo scored once again to retake the lead at 3-2 to end the first quarter.

The second quarter was all Warriors as they held the Eagles to just one goal for the period. Loo recorded his hat-trick less than 30 seconds in on an assist by Nick Sheaffer. Sheaffer later found the back of the cage for his first of the game followed by goals from Chase Jackson and Cade McCarron for their firsts as well. The final eight or so minutes of the half remained scoreless as Webber entered the break with a four-goal lead at 7-3.

The Eagles opened the third quarter by scoring four-in-a-row to erase the deficit and tie the game up at 7-7. The tide shifted once again as the Warriors netted three-straight to take back the lead. Solo-goals by Brycen Ortiz, Sheaffer and Jackson made it a three-goal lead with 45 seconds left in the third. Reinhardt scored a last-second goal to make it 10-8 heading into the fourth quarter of action.

Dillon Ziemba netted the first goal of quarter number four and following another Eagles’ goal, Sheaffer scored his third of the game to earn his hat-trick as well. Down by three, Reinhardt did back down as it scored three times in the final five minutes, two of which came in the final minute to force overtime. It took roughly a minute and a half for the Warriors to retake the lead as Christian Tapia received a pass from Jackson and fired home the winning goal. Webber held the Eagles scoreless for the remainder of the period, earning the narrow victory.

Jackson and Sheaffer led the Warriors offensively, each with four points in total. Jackson recorded two goals and two assists while Sheaffer tallied three goals and an assist. The pair were followed by Loo with three goals as well and Tapia with a goal and an assist. Hunter Scott led the team in ground balls with six followed by Loo with four and Sheaffer and Greyson Davidson each with three. Davidson also finished with a team-high three caused turnovers while Austin Schepers totaled two caused turnovers and two ground balls.

The Warriors now advance to the semifinal round where they will face No. 1 Keiser University. It will be the third matchup between the two teams this season of which Webber is 0-2. The game is set for Friday, May 11th with a 5 p.m. eastern standard time start.

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