Because of a conference school's forfeiture of matches due to an ineligible player, the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team has been declared outright Sooner Athletic Conference champions and had its first-round opponent changed.
The Pioneers, ranked the equivalent of 28th in the NAIA, initially finished the conference regular-season with a 7-1-1 record and shared the conference crown with John Brown (Ark.), which Wayland had beaten but which also had a 7-1-1 record.
However, it was announced Wednesday evening that Southwestern Christian University forfeited two of its wins – over Wayland and Mid-America Christian – resulting in the Pioneers' record improving to 8-0-1, thus making WBU the outright champion for the first time in program history.
The forfeitures also affected pairings in the first round of the SAC Tournament, including Wayland's. Instead of hosting Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Saturday, the Pioneers (12-3-2) now will entertain Mid-America Christian (4-12, 2-7), a team WBU defeated, 6-1, in Oklahoma City on Oct. 14. After the standings were adjusted, MACU moved ahead of SAGU to grab the eighth and final spot in the tournament field.
The MACU vs. WBU match is tentatively scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Saturday at Hilliard Field.
If the Pioneers defeat the Evangels, they will face either fourth-seeded Oklahoma City University (11-5-1, 5-3-1) or fifth-seeded Southwestern Christian (10-5-2, 4-3-2) in the semifinals Tuesday. Southwestern Christian, which had finished conference with a 6-1-2 record (including a 1-0 win over Wayland in Bethany, Okla.), went from being the No. 3 seed to the No. 5 seed following its forfeitures. The Eagles are ranked the equivalent of 37th in the NAIA.
The SAC championship match will be played Saturday, Nov. 12 at the site of the highest remaining seed, which would be Wayland if the Pioneers – who have not lost in their last 11 outings – win their next two matches.
Southwestern Christian forfeited its wins over Wayland and MACU after learning that a player did not serve a one-game suspension after the accumulation of five cautions.Â
"This was a difficult but necessary consequence after learning of the situation," SAC Commissioner Stan Wagnon said. "In this case, the rules of soccer very clearly require a forfeit to the opposing team for all games in which the player participates illegally. While it is not ideal to make changes to a bracket just days before the tournament begins, getting it right matters most, and I appreciate the cooperation of all involved to ensure that."
The following is the updated SAC men's soccer standings and conference tournament pairings after the forfeiture ruling:
STANDINGS
1. Wayland Baptist, 8-0-1
2. John Brown, 7-1-1
T3. Science & Arts, 5-3-1
T3. Oklahoma City, 5-3-1
5. Southwestern Christian, 4-3-2
6. Bacone College, 4-4-1
7. Texas Wesleyan, 3-4-2
8. Mid-America Christian, 2-7
9. Southwestern Assemblies of God, 1-7-1
10. St. Gregory's, 1-8
SAC TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Nov. 5 - QUARTERFINALS
(8) MACU at (1) WBU, 5:00 PM
(5) SCU at (4) OCU, time TBD
(6) BC at (3) USAO, 7:00 PM
(7) TWU at (2) JBU, 2:00 PM
Tuesday, Nov. 8 - SEMIFINALS
Winner 8v1 vs. Winner 5v4, hosted by higher seed
Winner 6v3 vs. Winner 7v2, hosted by higher seed
Saturday, Nov. 12 - CHAMPIONSHIP
Semifinal winners, hosted by higher seed
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