Men's soccer opens season after impressive scrimmage

If the rest of the season goes as well as last week's scrimmage, the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team is in store for a rocking season. With a depleted roster due to injuries and not having all of their players eligible at that time, the Pioneers went on the road to defeat NCAA Division II's 12^th-ranked Midwestern State, 2-1.
 
"That was a big deal for us, even though it was a scrimmage," first-year head coach "Cristhian Ospina said. "We just had a partial squad because we couldn't take everybody, but they looked good. We did our best with what we had, and the guys played hard and overall it was a positive thing for us going forward. It was a good opening."
 
Ospina hopes for a similar showing on Tuesday when the Pioneers open their season by hosting University of the Southwest (Hobbs, N.M.) at 6 p.m. at Hilliard Field. The match follows the women's match at 4.
 
"We're ready," Ospina said.
 
As ready as the Pioneers are, and as well as they played in the scrimmage win over Midwestern State, Ospina knows that there's lots of work still to be done.
 
"(Midwestern State) exposed some of our weaknesses, so we were able to work on those things and we'll do better this game," the coach said. "We still have to work on some things, but I'm pretty confident we can have a good game (Tuesday.)"
 
Among the players missing from Wayland's roster against Midwestern State was John-Ramses Thomas, the All-Sooner Athletic Conference senior goalkeeper who was sidelined with a concussion suffered in practice. Thomas has since returned to practice and is expected to play Tuesday, but Ospina had nothing but positive things to say about Thomas' replacement against Midwestern State, redshirt freshman Keyland Taylor.
 
"He made some good saves. That will help him a lot," Ospina said of Taylor, a product of San Angelo Central.
 
Another San Angelo product, junior Javier Parry, also shined for Wayland in the scrimmage. Parry, who scored three goals all of last season, put in both of the Pioneers' goals against Midwestern State, including the game-winner in the 89^th minute.
 
"Javier had a good game," Ospina confirmed.
 
The University of the Southwest, a member of the Red River Athletic Conference, comes to Plainview having already played an official match. The Mustangs went to Phoenix and on Aug. 21 took on Arizona Christian, winning 1-0.
 
Wayland and USW, which was 6-9 last season, have not met since the 2011 season when Wayland won, 1-0. Tuesday's match marks the start of a West Texas swing for the Mustangs, who follow their outing against Wayland with road matches against West Texas A&M, Texas-Permian Basin and Lubbock Christian.
 
Ospina called Tuesday's season-opener big for his team, which is the equivalent of 35^th in the NAIA Preseason Top 25 Poll.
 
 "It determines how you're going to set the tone for the rest of the season," he said. "A win is important for the guys. Winning builds confidence."
 
That's something Wayland will need lots of when the Pioneers hit the road later this week for matches against a pair of Top 25 teams. WBU will play second-ranked Auburn-Montgomery, Ala., the defending NAIA national runner-up, at 7:30 p..m. Saturday before taking on No. 25 Belhaven, Miss., at 3 p.m. Monday.
 
"That for sure will let us see where we stand nationally," Ospina said. "Those two teams are always top five, top 10 in the nation, so that will show us where we are and what we have to do to get there.
 
"Slowly but surely, we'll get there."
 
For now, though, the Pioneers are concentrating on University of the Southwest, and Ospina encourages all Wayland soccer fans to head out to Hilliard Field to support the WBU women and men. The coach, a former Pioneer player, said it means a lot when a good crowd is on hand.
 
"It can make a world of difference," he said.
 
Admission to all Wayland home soccer games is free. Free online streaming is available at www.wbuathletics.com.