Freshman Megan Huerta scored two goals and the Wayland Baptist women outshot St. Gregory's 26-3 in a 3-0 shutout in Sooner Athletic Conference soccer action on Thursday evening at Hilliard Field.
The Pioneers wore pink-numbered jerseys in the game to honor Breast Cancer Awareness month. The honorary coach was Beverly Steed, the Administrative Assistant for the WBU Athletic Department and a breast cancer survivor.
Huerta broke the Pioneer's string of three scoreless games just five and a half minutes into the contest against the Cavaliers. With a strong wind behind her, senior Ashley Woodall put an indirect kick right in front of the goal. Several players from both teams attempted to make a play on the ball, but the 5'1 freshman forward from Van Vleck, Texas, is the one that found the back of the net.
The second goal of the game came five minutes later and was almost a carbon copy of the first, except it came off a corner kick by freshman Madison Abbott. Huerta again was the beneficiary of some good play in front of the net by the Pioneers in picking up her third goal of the season.
The WBU women made it 3-0 at the 36:29 mark on a header by sophomore Zoe Benson. The goal once again came off a corner kick by Abbott, who picked up the assist with the perfect pass to Benson.
Head coach Shiloh Posey said that his team finally played with a sense of urgency in Thursday's contest, something that they had been lacking in the past few games.
"We talked all week about starting fast and finishing well. We concentrated our practices on our mental focus and physical approach. Last week we played timidly, but today I thought everyone played extremely well. I can't say enough about our overall effort."
The Pioneers picked up 17 of their 26 shots in the first half working with a strong wind at their backs. Jordan James, another freshman on Posey's squad, came off the bench to lead the Pioneers in shots with six. Emarie Holland and Kendra Bennett had four each.
St. Gregory's goalkeeper Jennifer Taber made eight saves in the opening period, but had just one in the second, as it was the Pioneers turn to battle the stiff wind. Courtney Chambers, the WBU goalie, made both of her saves in the final half.
Wayland, which improved to 6-4 overall, looks to even up its conference record at 2-2 on Saturday against Oklahoma Baptist University. The time for that game has been moved up to 11:00 a.m. at Hilliard Field. The Lady Bison are just 3-7 on the season, but are 2-1 in SAC play after a 4-3 double overtime win against Lubbock Christian on Thursday.
