LAKELAND – Three first-time goal scorers led the way for Florida Southern in its season-opening victory over Webber International 3-0. Freshmen Edward Spansk (Mora, Sweden) and Kieran Whitehead (Worcester, England) netted goals in their collegiate debuts while junior Andreas Hagstrom (Trangsund, Sweden) scored on his first collegiate shot.

The Moccasins maintained an up-tempo style of play and were able to keep the ball in their attacking third for the majority of the game. While the two teams were both held scoreless in the first half, the play was dominated by FSC (1-0) as it was able to get off 12 shots. Additionally, the defensive line of Corey Mills (Wellington, New Zealand), Petter Allansson (Savedalen, Sweden), James Gibson (Cape Coral, Fla.), and Clay Clingerman (Auburndale, Fla.) locked down the Warriors attack allowing only four shots, all of which came in the second half.

Head coach Ryan Sniegoski improved to 2-0 in season openers following up last year's 3-1 victory over Warner.

FSC's first chance came in the 22nd minute when a two-on-one with Whitehead and Mills was broken up by WIU (2-1) center back Jack Ausin who was able to make a tackle and force the ball out of bounds. The Warriors would then have their attempt at striking first in the 27th minute, but Clingerman was able to make a sliding stop similar to that of Austin at the other end of the field. WIU's goalkeeper Brandon Stout did everything he could to keep the Warriors in the game, especially in the 36th minute where he made a diving stop on sophomore Jonathan Radvogin (Vasteras, Sweden) to keep the game scoreless.

After the intermission, it did not take long for the Mocs to tally their first goal of the season. The Spansk twins were able to generate the first goal for FSC as Carl Spansk (Mora, Sweden) sent the ball into the box on the right side for Edward's shot for a point in his collegiate debut as well. Less than ten minutes later, Whitehead would add to the lead with a missile into the upper right corner from 30 yards out.

Play would start to get a bit chippy from thereon out with a pair of yellow cards being assessed in the final 15 minutes of the game. Webber's Tyler Kuykendall would receive his caution on a hard tackle in the 76th minute while FSC's Priit Peedo (Tartu, Estonia) would receive one for delay of game in the 83rd minute.

In the 86th minute, Hagstrom would net one more for good measure as he chested in a corner kick from sophomore Alek Cosio (Fort Worth, Texas). Sophomore goalie Cole Clingerman (Auburndale, Fla.) only needed to make one save to earn his third career shutout in addition to making a sliding stop on Robert Cignarelli in the final minute of the first half.

The Moccasins will head up to Pensacola this weekend for a pair of regional matchups being held at the UWF Soccer Complex. The first game will be on Friday, September 12 against Alabama-Huntsville at 6 p.m., and the second game will be on Sunday, September 14 against host West Florida at 4 p.m.