The Windsor Lancer men's soccer team battled the Waterloo Warriors twice this weekend during a home-and-home series within a three-day span which saw the home team come away with the victory in both contests. 
 
On Friday the Lancers took to the pitch at Alumni Stadium where they were able to defeat the Warriors 4-2 in the outing. While on Sunday in Waterloo the Warriors capitalized on the homefield advantage in the rematch serving the visiting blue and gold with a 5-1 loss to the black and gold.
 
FRIDAY STATS
Frankie Facchineri, Devin Hernandez, Noah Branco, and Skyler Pinnock were the Lancer goal scorers on Friday during their doubled win over the Warriors.
 
Robert Oates recorded an assist on the Facchineri goal. 
 
Lancer goalkeeper Simon Grande had 5 saves in the victory.
 
SUNDAY STATS
Hernandez got on the board again for the second time this weekend against Waterloo in the defeat despite scoring the game's opening goal.
 
Grande had a spectacular 11 save performance despite the loss to the Warriors.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY
On Friday under the lights, the blue and gold dominated against the Waterloo Warriors on Lancer territory. 
 
The blue and gold set the tone early in the first half when Oates connected with Facchineri off a corner kick for a header goal in the 6th minute of play.
 
While neither team would add to the score for the remainder of the half, the Lancers were relentless with their attack—having notable chances from Wilchrist Abdo and Hernandez.
 
On the defensive end, Branco had an impressive defensive tackle and cross combo to set up the Lancer counterattack.
 
Connor Symons also had a standout play as he corralled the ball to deny a prime chance for the Warriors. Finally, in the final seconds of the frame Grande got his hands on a Warrior bullet to keep the Lancer lead going into halftime.  
 
The Lancers returned to the pitch fully charged after halftime. The fans at Alumni Stadium were too electrified as they saw a pair of points for the blue and gold in the first five minutes of the half. First, Hernandez sent one soaring to be deflected in at the 48th minute. With no delay, Branco had a burst of speed down the wing to then fire it home. 
 
The blue and gold were not done there, however. In the 64th minute, Pinnock capitalized on a rebound by Hernandez to add a fourth tally. In the 79th minute Waterloo broke their goose egg with a goal by a penalty kick.
 
This game the Warriors brought some pep in their step, returning down the field to add a second tally three minutes later. In the final minutes of the match, Grant Ferguson made his mark by launching himself into the Lancer goal to clear a ball crawling across the goal line.
 
The match would end in a 4-2 win, securing three points and the first win of the season for the blue and gold.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY
The Lancers opened the scoring early in the match as Hernandez was able to find the back of the Warrior net at the 2-minute mark with an unassisted goal to put the Lancers ahead 1-0 on the Warriors.
 
Waterloo would respond at the 8-minute mark with their own unassisted tally to tie the game up at 1-1.  Waterloo would then add a go-ahead marker later in the first half going up 2-1 before halftime at the 44th minute of the match.
 
The Warriors would then go on to not surrender any more goals to the blue and gold as the black and gold's offense added three more goals at the 73rd, 83rd, and 87th minutes respectively with the third and fourth Warrior goals coming off the foot of Waterloo's Kevin Espiro to all but seal the deal for the hometown team in this contest who took this one 5-1 over Windsor.
 
With the loss the Lancers now move to a 1-5-4 record on the campaign. 
 
UP NEXT
The Lancers will now get set to head to Hamilton on Friday October 20th when they will take on the McMaster Marauders while on the road with a slated 8:15pm kickoff time.
 
The blue and gold will be back home in action again on Sunday October 22nd at 3:15pm when the Laurier Golden Hawks come to town to take on the Lancers at Alumni Stadium.
 
Fans can purchase their tickets either in advance at goLancers.ca/tickets or at the gate on gameday.