LAKE WALES, Fla. - The Royals Men's Soccer season wrapped up their regular season by celebrating their Seniors in another classic Crooked Lake Derby match. Warner battled with the Warriors throughout the night, but came up just short from completing the comeback and fell 4-to-3.
The most recent edition of the Crooked Lake Derby opened up with a lightning pace as the Warriors jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 4th minute. It only took Warner a few minutes to respond with a goal of their own when
Jason Flaming scored off a tremendous touch pass from
Mario Martinez to level the game at 1 in the 9th minute. The Warriors answered back to score 2 more goals before the 25th minute elapsed to establish a 3-to-1 lead. The Royals created a few more chances before the halftime whistle and recorded 2 shots on goal, but were unable to cut into the Webber lead before the break.
During halftime, Warner was able to celebrate their 8 Seniors and thank them for their dedication to the University, Athletics Department and Men's Soccer program. The Royals celebrated
Mikey Melvin,
Wesley Lacy,
Noah Farrington,
Tomas Becerra,
Euan Bunn,
Caleb Doyle,
Georg Manolov and
Jason Flaming.
The Royals came out of the break putting incredible pressure on the Warriors defense as Warner recorded 4 shots, 1 on goal, in the opening 10 minutes without allowing a single shot by Webber in that same span. Unfortunatley for the Royals, the Warriors would get another goal in despite the pace of play favoring Warner in the 60th minute. Warner refused to go down without a fight, pushing back and placing more pressure on the WIU defense the Royals broke through in the 68th minute when
Jackson Davenport smashed a shot into the back of the net off a cross from
Greg Jackson II to cut the lead to 2. The Royals continued to press forward and earned a free kick about 35 yards out in the 79th minute.
Xavier Lozada stepped up to take the kick for the Royals and hit a perfectly placed shot curling into the far side of the goal to put the Royals 1 goal away from the Warriors. Warner kept fighting and created a few more chances, but were unable to net the game tying goal before the final whistle falling to the Warriors by a score of 4-to-3.
Warner finished the game with 14 total shots, 6 on goal, 2 corner kicks and 2 saves. The Royals wrapped up their regular season with a 3-8-7 overall record and an 0-5-3 SUN Conference record. This was a strong turn-around season for the Royals after not getting a result against a SUN opponent in the 2025 season and marks a turn in the right direction for the program. Warner will now look forward to pursue NCCAA post-season opportunities as the program continues to progress.
