Box Score Wayland Baptist head men's soccer coach
Jamath Shoffner said it was a tale of two halves in his team's first-round Sooner Athletic Conference tournament game against Lubbock Christian University on Saturday evening. And, boy, was he right.
The No. 3 seed Pioneers (11-4-2) took the 3-0 victory on their home field to move on to the second round, but not without giving their fans and coaches a bit of a scare in the first half. Wayland only took two shots in the first 45 minutes of the game, while No. 6 seed LCU (7-7-3) took four.
The conference rivals were deadlocked 0-0 at halftime, but the Pioneers came out of the locker room looking like a new team. In the second half, Wayland took six shots, scoring on three of those, courtesy of
Andres Lozano,
Samson Defeugaing and team scoring leader
Travis Somersall.
Just 48 seconds into the second half, Lozano scored on a rebound off the crossbar after a corner kick by
Miguel Teos. Less than 14 minutes later, Defeugaing scored on an assist from Lozano after a corner by
Vitalis Atemafac. Somersall, who leads the Pioneers with nine goals this season, sealed the victory with a long crossing shot from the right side of the field into the high left corner of the goal.
LCU popped off three more shots in the second half, but none found their mark. Wayland goalkeeper
John-Ramses Thomas reeled in five saves on the night, while LCU keeper Erik Mozzo had three. Both teams each had a player receive a yellow card.
Shoffner said that despite his team's slow start, they picked it up when it counted most.
“The first half they were all over us,” he said. “They had better position, better tempo…they were the better team.
“It was a tale of two halves, though. Our guys kind of woke up in the second half and we took the pace to them and controlled possession. We dictated play in the second half.”
The Pioneers move on to the semifinals of the SAC tournament, slated for 6 p.m. Tuesday back at Hilliard Field against No. 7 seed Oklahoma Baptist. OBU beat No. 2 seed Rogers State on Saturday evening by a score of 4-0.
The Pioneers defeated the Bison 3-2 in their only meeting this season on Oct. 4 in Shawnee.
Men's Soccer vs LCU in SAC tournament Gallery
