Warriors Dominant in Season Opener

Box Score

Mar. 2, 2013

Jones and Terry with Five Points Each, Defense Allows Three in Season Opener

Sporting a fresh new look in custom Nike Vapor jerseys in their 2013 season opener, the Black and Red got their campaign off with a bang by defeating the visiting Chargers of Northwood High School 11-3 at Warrior Field.  It was the first season opener that the team has won in school history, and is the fourth win against Northwood in as many meetings.

The Warriors jumped out to an 8-0 halftime lead and never looked back, as senior LSM Rufus Terry got things started with an unassisted drive down the middle of the field to open the team's scoring.  Classmate Antonio Jones pushed the lead to 2-0 as he leaped to snag a pass from senior midfielder Jacob Ragland, turned and burried the shot.  After a blocked shot resulted in a loose ball situation in front of the goal, junior attacker Brock Fuller collected his first of the year by picking up the ball, making a dodge, and rifling home a shot to make it 3-0 Webb.

The next three goals came from Jones, who worked the crease like magic all night.  He would take feeds from Fuller and Terry (twice) to give him his second, third, and fourth of the night and the team's first hat trick of the season.  Minutes later, sophomore midfielder Luke Hunt lept high to intercept a Chargers pass near midfield before barreling down the middle and finding Ragland to give the sophomore his first career point, give Ragland his first goal of the game, and give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.  Terry collected a feed from senior midfielder Teddy Anderson to round out the team's scoring in the first half, giving the Warriors one of their largest leads ever heading into the locker room.

The second half was a much more evenly matched affair.  While the Warriors got a goal from Jones, who received a pass from senior Jon Greene, the Chargers played much more tenaciously and scored three straight goals to cut the lead to 9-3.  As the quarter's minutes wound down, Terry grabbed the team's second hat trick with an unassisted full field sprint following a forced turnover on the defensive side by senior Cedric Spence.

The final goal of the game came from rookie Ben Branch, scoring his first career goal with a nifty dodge from the back right corner, beating two defenders and slotting home a shot in the bottom corner of the net.  With the defense getting back into the groove they had in the first half, the Warriors cruised from here to an 11-3 victory.

"I was very pleased with our guys tonight," said fourth year head coach David Farabee.  "They have been working all off-season and tonight's result, in every facet of the game, shows it.  I can't stress enough how far we have come as a program since that first game four years ago to today, and am excited to see where we end up this year."

Jones (5G) and Terry (3G 2A) led all points scorers with five each.  Defensively, senior close defenders Justin Wilbanks and Cedric Spence each forced three turnovers, with rotation mate Zach Watkins forcing a turnover of his own and grabbing two ground balls.  Christian Tilley made 9 saves in goal for the victory, while junior x-man Cameron Blanchard dominated the face-off mark, winning 11 of 14 draws.

The Warriors improve to 1-0 on the season, their first such mark in school history, while the Chargers drop to 0-1.  Webb next plays Monday night against second year team Southern Alamance at home, while Northwood hosts Orange High School on Tuesday.

Game Notes:  It was the first season opening win in school history...With his third quarter goal, Rufus Terry is now the All Time Goals leader at Webb (36)...Branch's goal was the first goal scored by a freshman since April 20th, 2010, when current senior Jon Greene scored a goal at Northern Durham...He is also the first freshman to start at a position since the 2010 season, the team's first in existence...8 goals is the second largest margin of victory in school history.