Box Score ABILENE – The Wayland Baptist women's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season here Friday, falling to NCAA Division I Abilene Christian, 3-0.
"We got beat, but I thought the girls played pretty well," Wayland coach
Shiloh Posey said. "We learned some things, I think, and came away knowing that we can play with a team like that."
The win was ACU's first of the season following 1-0 losses to Tulsa and Texas-El Paso.
The Pioneers (0-1-1), who tied their season-opener at home against University of the Southwest, N.M., 1-1, gave up all three goals to the Wildcats in the first half, which was interrupted for close to 40 minutes by a rain and lightning storm some 15 minutes into the action.
ACU's first goal came on a header out of a corner kick, Posey said.
"I wish we would have defended that a little better," Posey said.
The Wildcats made it 2-0 on a ricochet goal that saw the ball bounce off of a Wayland player then deflect off of an ACU player past Pioneer goalkeeper
Bailey Stengler.
"There was really nothing (Bailey) could do. That was kind of an unfortunate set of circumstances," Posey said.
The coach said ACU's final goal was a well-taken shot from about 15 yards out. "The player hit a really nice shot right along the top of the ground. We had a defender on her, but it went right behind her leg, and by the time our goalkeeper could see it, it was too late."
Neither team scored in the final 45 minutes.
"We played our tails off in the second half," Posey said. "We really did well as a team. They played really hard and played together."
Wayland was outshot in the match, 20-6.
Jodian Morris had half of Wayland's shots while
Jasmine Ortiz had two and
Katherine Teinert one. Both of Ortiz's attempts were on goal, as was Teinert's.
"We had some good (scoring) opportunities," Posey said. "Jodian had a couple of really good shots and just pulled them wide."
Stengler recorded five saves.
"Bailey played a good game in the goal," said Posey, who also praised Hailey Reiser and
Jessica Karlen. "We played both of them in the back. Both played 90 minutes and did a great job, as did
Jessica Bell in the midfield.
"Really, though, everybody gave a really solid effort. Although we didn't win, I was pleased with how the match went overall. We learned some good lessons and did some good things, especially defensively. Now we just have to find a way to get the ball forward and take advantage of our (scoring) chances. We have to capitalize on what we learned."
Wayland's next match is at 2 p.m. Thursday against Our Lady of the Lake at Hilliard Field, followed two days later by another home match against rival Lubbock Christian at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 6. Our Lady of the Lake opens its season on Saturday in San Antonio against Houston-Victoria before the Saints host Oklahoma City University on Sunday.
