Posey pleased despite 2-0 loss to Abilene Christian

Box Score
Normally, Shiloh Posey isn't one to claim moral victories. After playing the undefeated Abilene Christian University Wildcats to within two goals, however, the Wayland Baptist women's soccer coach made an exception.
 
"There aren't many days when I look at the scoreboard and see we lost 2-0 that I'm going to feel it's a moral victory for us, but today I really do," Posey said Saturday afternoon after Wayland suffered its first loss of the season at Hilliard Field. "I felt this was the most complete game I've ever seen us play. This shows me we know how to play this game. This is proof of all of the things I've always felt about this team, and they proved it to themselves today."
 
ACU (6-0-1), an NCAA Division I member of the Southland Conference, came to town sporting a shimmering record that includes wins over Wayland's Sooner Athletic Conference foes Oklahoma City University (3-2) and John Brown University (5-0), along with Midwestern State and Drury. The Wildcats' lone blemish was a tie with the University of Texas-El Paso.
 
ACU, which is now 10-0 all-time against NAIA competition, scored its first goal at the 31-minute mark when a misplayed header by Wayland allowed Jacey Ferrara to get a free shot in the box. The game remained 1-0 until the 60-minute mark when Natalie Throneberry dribbled into the left side of the box and put it over WBU keeper Keri Myers' head.
 
The Pioneers (4-2), who were outshot 11-4 with the shots-on-goal count standing at 8-1, scored a goal in the first half, but it was taken away on an offsides call. Emarie Holland, who ranks seventh in the NAIA with eight goals this season, got one past the ACU keeper, but the would-be goal was disallowed due to the penalty.
 
While that was unfortunate for Wayland, Posey said the turn of events proved to be a confidence-builder for the Pioneers.
 
"I felt like that gave us a shot in the arm," he said. "(ACU) came in here bigger than we are with a tremendous record and all of that, and that goal in the first eight or 10 minutes really gave the girls some confidence. It proved to them that we could play with (ACU) and that they do have cracks in their armor."
 
The coach said he also was proud of the fact that the Pioneers didn't hang their heads after Holland's goal was waved off.
 
"They didn't say, 'Oh, poor us,' There was not letdown in effort," he said, adding that the Pioneers responded the same way after each of ACU's two goals. "That was good to see."
 
The Pioneers had another prime scoring chance in the second half when Haley Reiser served a ball from the corner to Tori Nimtz on the goalline. The ball rolled up Nimtz's side and got high on her body, giving ACU's defense time to recover and clear the ball.
 
"We did everything right but get it in the net," Posey said.
 
Holland took half of Wayland's four shots while Sarah Castro and Zoe Benson had the other two. Castro's attempt was the only shot on goal for the Pioneers.
 
While disappointed with the defeat, Posey was upbeat about everything else with the match.
 
"We were patient when we needed to be, aggressive when we needed to be. Both the offense and defense played well.
 
"All in all, this was validation of what I've always felt about the girls," he added. "It proves that when we play right and when we play well, we can play with anybody."
 
The Pioneers are back in action at 5 p.m. Tuesday at home against University of Texas-Permian Basin. The Falcons are 0-3, having been outscored 8-1, going into their match Sunday against Fort Lewis.