LAKE WALES, Fla. – The Warner Royals Men's Soccer team won their 3
rd straight home game tonight and start this 2018 season off with a 3-0 record; this is tied for the team's best start to a season in the last 15 years and is the best start under head coach
Drew Stacey. At halftime of tonight's game Coach Stacey stated that he was trying out some new lineups, with new faces and was trying to get the boys "used to trying new styles of play, because not one style is going to beat every opponent." The team seems bought in to coach Stacey's plan and executed it to perfection tonight against Trinity Baptist College, walking away with a 3-0 win.
Less than 2 minutes into the game, forward
Daniel Rodriguez scored a goal that caromed off the side-post past the goalie into the back of the net; this is already Rodriguez's 3
rd goal in as many games this season, and just like that the Royals were up 1-0. The first half was full of great defense by the Royals and constant offensive pressure, in the 40
th minute the Royals got their second goal off a header by mid-fielder
Colton Elder, this was Elder's first goal of the season. The half would end with the Royals up 2-0 over the Eagles, due in large part to the aggressive defense by the Royals and excellent play from the goalie Christian De Souza, who got his first start of the season tonight.
The offense continued to click in the second half as Warner fired off 16 shots in that half alone, 27 for the game, and found the net for the 3
rd and final time of the match in the 81
st minute when
Matheus Santiago squeezed the ball through a hole in the defense and past the goalie for his 2
nd goal of the season, off an assist from
Austin Steen. The Royals kept the Eagles out of sync all night on both sides of the ball as the team continued to grow more frustrated as the game went on, receiving a total of 3 yellow cards throughout the match.
The men have 5 days before they are back in action against Georgia Southwestern State University on August 30
th at 7 p.m. at Royals Field and expect the team to be hyped up as they look to extend their winning streak to 4!