AVE MARIA, Fla. - The Warner Men's Soccer team earned a 1-to-1 draw in dramatic fashion on the road at Ave Maria University on Saturday. First year Royal,
Jackson Davenport found the back of the net in the 85th minute to help the Royals secure the draw and keep the team in the hunt for a spot in the SUN Conference Tournament.
The Royals traveled to Ave Maria University on Saturday to take on the Gyrenes in an important SUN Conference matchup as both programs were looking for their first SUN win of the season. The Gyrenes opened the match controlling the majority of possession as they recorded 4 total shots, 2 on goal, and earned 2 corner kicks in the opening 8 minutes of play. Royals Goalkeeper,
Mikey Melvin came up with 2 great saves during the opening minutes to keep AMU off the scoreboard in those opening minutes. AMU took the lead on a goal scored in the 12th minute putting the Royals down 1. Warner answered back by taking total control of the half as they held the Gyrenes to only 2 more shots while the Royals recorded 6 shots, 3 on goal, and earned 2 corner kicks. Lightning created a halt in play with 5 minutes remaining in the first half, but Warner kept the pressure up creating 2 more opportunities before entering halftime down by a score of 1-to-0.
The 2nd half opened up as both teams created opportunities throughout the final 45 minutes with the Royals recording 6 shots, with 3 on goal, and the Gyrenes recording 7 shots, with 5 on goal. Melvin continued to come up clutch for the Royals as he secured 5 saves to blank Ave during the 2nd half. In the 85th minute, the Royals offensive pressure forced the Gyrenes into committing a foul 25 yards out on Warner's right wing.
Xavier Lozada stepped up to take the free kick and hit a great ball into the box where
Jackson Davenport broke away from his defender to head the ball past the Ave goalkeeper and knot the match up at 1 goal each. Both programs would make pushes over the final 5 minutes, but neither could find a match winner as the game would end in a 1-1 draw.
Earning the draw was incredibly important for the Royals postseason opportunities, putting the team only 2 points outside of the current SUN Conference Tournament picture and give themselves a 1 point advantage over AMU in 8th with 4 games remaining. Warner's final stat line from Saturday saw the team record 12 total shots, 6 on goal, with 6 corner kicks and 9 saves.
Up Next:
The Royals will take a break from SUN play when they travel to Trinity College of Jacksonville for a match on Tuesday, October 13th with game time scheduled for 4:00pm.
#GodBlessGoRoyals | #TogetherAsOne
