Box Score LUBBOCK –
Jamath Shoffner knew
Erik Luzanilla had a lot of offense in him, and on Tuesday night the Wayland Baptist Pioneer proved his coach correct.
Luzanilla scored all three of Wayland's goals to record the first hat trick in program history and lead the Pioneers to a 3-0 shutout over rival Lubbock Christian University.
"It was a good result for us," Shoffner said of Wayland's third win in a row this season and third straight victory over the Chaparrals (1-1-0). "Erik had some very timely goals for us. It was a hard-fought match."
WBU (3-1-1), which last season defeated LCU by an identical 3-0 score in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament after winning 1-0 during the regular-season, now leads the all-time series against its former conference foe, 3-2.
"The rivalry may dissipate a little because of the conference changing, but it's LCU so it's always going to be tough," Shoffner said. "There's always going to be emotion involved."
Luzanilla, a junior midfielder from San Luis, Ariz., making his program debut, became the first Pioneer to score three goals in a match. Over the previous four years, five players had scored two goals, including twice last season by current junior
Travis Somersall.
"Erik has a lot of experience from his junior college years," Shoffner said of the former first-team junior college all-American at Arizona Western College. "Erik strikes the ball really well, and so he's one of our better finishers of the ball."
Luzanilla single-handedly finished off LCU on Tuesday.
His first goal came 25½ minutes in on a free kick served from 40 yards out that Shoffner said "was a bit midhandled" by the LCU goalkeeper. "Our players put a lot of pressure on (the goalkeeper)."
Wayland made it 2-0 on a penalty kick with some 4½ minutes left before halftime.
"
Andres Lozano was fouled from behind in the box, and Erik stepped up and took the penalty," Shoffner said. "It was a well-taken penalty. We had had some chances to score and couldn't. We needed a goal before halftime."
With close to 20 minutes remaining, Wayland put the match out of reach when Luzanilla finished off his hat trick. He picked up a ball in midfield and went one-on-one with an LCU defender. Luzanilla deftly touched the ball with his left foot and, according to Shoffner, "had a nice, calm finish in front of goal."
Luzanilla fired eight shots overall, including five on goal, as the Pioneers held a commanding 19-10 edge in shots, including 13 in the first half. While 11 of the Pioneers' shots were on goal, only two of LCU's were on target. After Luzanilla,
Mamadou Sanon was the next most active Pioneer shooter with four shots, including two on goal.
Shoffner congratulated his team for its second shutout in three matches.
"A big congratulations to our defense. We were playing against a former Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Year (LCU junior Billy Forbes) who scored (a program-record) four goals in the previous game (a 6-1 win over University of the Southwest). We held him and their team to zero, which is a testament to our defense and goalkeeper (
John-Ramses Thomas) and just our overall organization."
Wayland next plays at 2 p.m. Saturday back home against McMurry, which opened its season Friday with a 1-1 tie at home against Ouachita Baptist University. The War Hawks take on West Texas A&M in Canyon on Friday night before meeting the Pioneers. The Wayland women host Abilene Christian at noon Saturday.
"They're a really physical team," Shoffner said of McMurry. "They have a lot of experience upperclassmen so we know we're going to have our hands full on Saturday."
