LAKELAND, Fla. - The Royals traveled to Southeastern University on Saturday for their penultimate match of the regular season. Warner battled back from trailing 2-1 late in the 2nd half to earn a 2-to-2 draw after
Wade Bishop scored his 4th goal of the season in the 86th minute.
The Warner defense was put to the test early in the 1st half against a strong Fire offense. Royal's goalkeeper
Mikey Melvin and the Royals defense held strong to keep SEU from finding the back of the net in the opening 45 minutes as Melvin secured all 6 of his saves during the first half. During the 29th minute the Royals broke through as
Vance Wheeler scored his 1st goal in a Warner shirt off an assist by
Xavier Lozada and send the Royals into the break with a 1-0 lead.
Southeastern came out aggressive in the 2nd half, but the Royals defense continued to hold strong through the first 20 minutes of the half. SEU broke through to find the back of the net in both the 65th and 69th minutes to take a 2-to-1 lead. Following the Fire's 2nd goal, the Royals held SEU to only 2 more shots as they pushed to find a late equalizer. Then in the 86th minute the Royals found their opportunity when they earned a corner kick following an attack.
Jason Flaming stepped up to take the corner and hit a great ball into the box where Sophomore
Wade Bishop collected the ball and found the back of the net to knot the match up at 2. The two teams fought to find the match winner, but neither could get a shot off in the final minutes as the match ended in a 2-2 draw.
The Royals finished the game with 3 total shots, 2 on goal, 2 corner kicks and 6 saves. Warner will look to build off this result and finish their regular season on a high note as they celebrate their Seniors on a Crooked Lake Derby Senior Night when they host Webber International University on Wednesday.
Up Next:
Warner will host Webber International University for Senior Night on the Royals Soccer Field on Wednesday, October 28th with kickoff scheduled for 7:00pm.
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