Box Score LUBBOCK – Just four games into the 2013 season, the Wayland Baptist women's soccer program already has reached two milestones. The Pioneers started the season 3-0 for the first time in their 10-year history, and on Tuesday afternoon they picked up their first-ever win over Lubbock Christian University, downing the Lady Chaparrals, 2-0.
Coming into Tuesday's match, Wayland (3-1) experienced a minor setback in its otherwise impressive start to the season, falling to Angelo State University on Sunday, 3-0. But the Pioneers put that behind them before traveling to Lubbock to take on former Sooner Athletic Conference foe LCU (2-1), which had won two of the previous three meetings with Wayland, with one tie.
Junior
Haley Reiser narrowly missed giving the Pioneers an early lead as her shot just under the two-minute mark went off the post.
"We had a really good chance in the first minute of the game," head coach
Shiloh Posey said. "The ball ended up going off the post, but I think it set the tempo for the game. The girls took it as encouragement and just kept pressing."
Reiser remained persistent and scored her first goal of the season in the 24
th minute. After a cross from
Emarie Holland, Reiser took a pass from
Jessica Bell that gave her a one-on-one opportunity against LCU goalkeeper Lauren Story. Reiser capitalized on the opportunity and gave Wayland a 1-0 lead.
The Pioneers had only one more shot for the remainder of the period compared to three by the Chaparral offense, two of which were saved by WBU's freshman goalkeeper
Keri Myers. Wayland was able to hold its ground and went into the break up 1-0.
"We were battling back and forth," Posey said, "but we were able to make some adjustments at halftime."
Those adjustments saw Wayland come out firing in the second half, and
Annysa Plata put the ball in the upper left-hand corner of the goal for her first score of the year. That put WBU up 2-0 and was all the insurance Wayland needed.
"Annysa got a cross from
Tori Nimtz and she made a nice shot in the upper left-hand corner," Posey said.
Both teams had plenty of opportunities for the remainder of the game but could not put the ball in the net. Posey attributed some of that to his keeper Myers.
"Keri did a great job today," he said. "She played very patiently. (LCU) took some long shots and she was able to be aware of what was going on around her and used her athleticism to get her hands on the ball. She took control of the box.
"She also did a good job of distributing the ball to our players to help get our offense going."
Posey also was impressed with how his team continued to pressure the Chaps throughout the match.
"We were able to put pressure on their defenders and they gave us the ball back several times. That allowed us to stay on their half of the field for a good portion of the match.
"We were able to correct some mistakes from Sunday's (loss to Angelo State), and we took advantage of the opportunities we had.
"Every person played a part in the win today. Not everyone got in the game, but the girls on the sidelines were very encouraging to the girls on the field and that helped us stay aggressive."
With the win the Pioneers ended the Chaparrals' 14-match win streak against non-conference opponents. Reiser's goal in the first also ended LCU's 231-minute scoreless streak that dated back to last season.
The Pioneers return to the pitch at noon Saturday when they take on Abilene Christian University at J.V. Hilliard Field.
