LUBBOCK, Texas --- Despite its 3-1 loss to Lubbock Christian on Tuesday afternoon, the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team will play in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Pioneers (7-8-3) reached the postseason as the eighth seed with a 4-5-1 league record. They will take on top-seeded USAO on Friday at a time to be determined.
Against Lubbock Christian, Wayland jumped out first when Cody McClary played his own rebound off a penalty kick into the goal at the 5:06 mark of the game.
LCU 's Billy Forbes scored his 21st and 22nd goals of the fall 20 minutes apart in the first period to give the Chaparrals a 2-1 lead at the intermission.
The Pioneers had numerous opportunities to tie things up in the first 35 minutes of the second half, none better than Guillermo Villarreal's kick from within the box with the Chap goalkeeper out of position that went just wide. Earlier in the period, Villarreal just missed on a header attempt from inside the box that sailed high.
LCU's final goal came in the 79th minute when the Pioneer defenders held up thinking Tony Scott had gone offsides. Instead, the Chaparral forward took the ball and beat Wayland goalkeeper John-Ramses Thomas, who appeared to slip, one-on-one.
WBU outshot the home team 11-9, but put just two on goal, both McClary's on the penalty kick and subsequent rebound in the contest's fifth minute.
Head coach Jamath Shoffner said following the match that his team played probably its worse conference game of the season against the Chaps.
"It was absolutely the worst time to have a game like that. We were not able to overcome the pressure of these last two games. We had a chance to finish as high as second with two games to go, and instead we are eighth."
The Pioneers grabbed the eighth and final spot in the SAC tourney based on a head-to-head tiebreaker with Southern Nazarene, which is also 4-5-1. WBU defeated the Crimson Storm 4-0 earlier in the season.
