The first half of the season has been, in a word, tough for the Wayland Baptist women's soccer team. The Pioneers faced some stiff competition in their preconference schedule, and although they have played right with those teams, they haven't realized the results they've wanted…yet.
In its seven matches, Wayland (0-6-1) has faced NCAA Division I Abilene Christian, Division II schools Lubbock Christian and West Texas A&M, No. 19 Our Lady of the Lake, No. 24 Benedictine College (Kan.), and Baker (Kan.), which is now receiving votes in the latest Top 25 poll.
With the exception of Abilene Christian, the Pioneers held their own against each of those opponents before late second-half goals did in WBU.
The Pioneers were tied with 19
th-ranked Our Lady of the Lake going into the final six minutes of the match but couldn't come up with a late goal of their own. It was the same story against Baker as that match was tied until the Wildcats took the lead in the 77
th minute.
Against Benedictine, the Pioneers trailed by just a goal until a flurry of scores in a three-minute span put the game out of reach, and against WT, Wayland went into halftime very much in the match, down just 1-0.
With all that being said, the Pioneers are looking for more than moral victories and are extremely hungry for a win as the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play begins this weekend.
"The girls' mentality right now is positive and they've put in some hard work at practice to help us get a win," head coach
Shiloh Posey said. "We've moved some things around a little and tried some different approaches to try and maximize our abilities, and we'll go from there."
The major issue for the Pioneers so far has been offense. Wayland is mired in a four-game scoring drought, but Posey and his squad are using a nine-day break between matches to focus on offense.
"We're working really hard on offense and concentrating a lot on that," he said. "We've seen some improvements and we're very hopeful about where we're headed."
The extended break before Wayland's first SAC match has been a great time for the Pioneers to regroup and focus on the second half of the season.
"Right now we're trying to be mentally focused," Posey said. "We're working on everyone doing their job individually and as a team so that we can give ourselves the opportunity to compete.
"We will play some tough teams in conference, but I don't think we'll see anyone more difficult than we've already played. The preconference schedule has prepared us, and we can be confident going into each of our remaining matches that we can play with those teams.
"The break has given us a chance to catch our breath, refocus and start again."
In its first conference match of the year, Wayland clashes with No. 18 Oklahoma City, last season's conference runner-up. The unbeaten Stars (5-0) host the Pioneers at 5 p.m. Saturday in Oklahoma City.
"It's going to be a tough battle," Posey said. "OCU is tough every year; that's not a new thing. But we're going to go up there and we're going to give it everything we've got."
Everything the Pioneers have done thus far this season has prepared them for their Sooner Athletic Conference schedule. The Pioneers are rested and prepared to turn their season around and have a successful second half.
