After two tough outcomes, men's soccer earns first victory

Box Score
Two matches into their season and having played some pretty good soccer, the Wayland Baptist men team didn't have much to show for their efforts. After playing even with No. 4 MidAmerica Nazarene and coming up just short of No. 18 Missouri Valley, the Pioneers were still seeking their first win.

In game three on Saturday night, the Pioneers found it.

David Neuberth and Mamadou Sanon scored goals to lead Wayland to a 2-0 home-opening victory over Huston-Tillotson at J.V. Hilliard Field.

"It's always good to be at home and it's always good to get a win," Pioneers coach Jamath Shoffner said. "The crowd was unbelievable."

Close to 200 fans saw the Pioneers control the match mostly from beginning to end. Wayland got off 18 shots compared to just six for the Rams (0-2). And while half of the Pioneers' shots were on goal, Huston-Tillotson only managed two.

"I'm really pleased that we won and I'm really pleased with the effort, especially the first half," Shoffner said. "I thought we came out with a lot of energy."

Wayland went on the offensive right from the start, but it took some time to get its first goal. It finally came 36 minutes in when Sanon took a cross from Juan Sanchez in the box and put it in the right corner.

It didn't take near as long for the Pioneers to connect in the second half. Just 2½ minutes after intermission, Neuberth scored off a rebound after a save by the HTU goalkeeper. Sanon was credited with an assist.
 
The goals were the first of the young season for both players and the first at Wayland for Neuberth, a junior from Maryland who transferred from Howard Community College.

While the pair were enough to get the win, Shoffner would have liked to have seen another goal or two.

"We had quite a few chances in the first and second half to finish the game, but just couldn't capitalize," he said. "It's good that we're getting chances because we're being creative at times going forward. We just have to finish."

WBU goalkeeper John-Ramses Thomas had two saves in recording his first shutout of the season. The first-team All-Sooner Conference player tallied five shutouts and 62 saves a year ago.

"Any time you can get a shutout, that's good," Shoffner said. "That way you're always in the game, regardless of whether you're scoring or not."

The Pioneers return to the Wayland Bowl at 7 p.m. Thursday to take on Eastern New Mexico University (Portales). Wayland defeated ENMU last year, 3-1, for its first win over the Greyhounds in four meetings.

"Historically, they've always been very good," Shoffner said of ENMU. "They've been in the top 25 of (NCAA) Division II, so it's going to be a really tough game for us on Thursday."

The WBU women (2-0) are next on the pitch at 8 p.m. Friday against Huston-Tillotson. It will be the 2013 home debut for the Pioneers, who will be trying to improve to 3-0 for the first time in program history.