Women's soccer upsets No. 23 OCU in thriller, 1-0

Box Score In every season for every team, there is a high point. The Wayland Baptist women's soccer team reached theirs during Wednesday afternoon's 1-0 upset of the No.23-ranked Oklahoma City University Stars.
 
Senior Jodian Morris scored her team-leading 13^th goal with just under four minutes left at Hilliard Field to lead the Pioneers to only their second win in 14 matches against OCU.
 
"It literally took everybody today," Wayland coach Shiloh Posey said. "It was a big day for us. It's good to have a quality result against a time like OCU."
 
Wayland's wins have been back-to-back as the Pioneers also topped the Stars last year – on the road when OCU was ranked No. 18 – by the same 1-0 final.
 
The Stars (10-4-1, 6-1-1 SAC) came to Plainview riding a five-match winning streak, while the Pioneers (5-6-3, 4-2-2) were coming off of a tough 2-1 overtime loss on Saturday against John Brown University. Despite those factors, Wayland stepped up to the challenge and more than held its own against one of the nation's best.
 
Although the Stars outshot the Pioneers, 22-9, 11 of OCU's shots were saved by junior goalkeeper Bailey Stengler. Of her saves, few were bigger than one Stengler saved from Stars senior forward Ailee Thompson in the 61^st-minute to keep the match scoreless.
 
"She was under pressure all day long," Posey said of Stengler, who posted her first solo shutout of the season, in addition to two assisted shutouts. "She made the simple ones and the big ones."
 
With time running out and the Pioneers trying to avoid what would have been their fifth overtime match of the season, Morris made a strike – partially deflected by Stars goalkeeper Kirsten Thomas – after a pass from sophomore Paige Rovillo to put the Pioneers up with 3:50 to go. 
 
"She was huge for us on the opportunity she had," Posey said of Morris' goal. "When you can take advantage of the opportunities you have, it can be the make and the break."
 
Posey said he felt "stressed" during the match, but was happy with the outcome and commended the whole team on its effort and willingness to weather the storm, as well as push the tempo.
 
"I was just proud of our girls for doing what we told them to do," he said. "We have to play well to beat a team like that."
 
The Pioneers have one last match before the start of the SAC Tournament, facing off against Southwestern Christian at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Hilliard Field. With a win over the Eagles (8-8-1, 2-6-0), the Pioneers guarantee themselves a first-round home match in the conference tournament. The top eight teams qualify for the tourney, with the top four seeds hosting opening matches.
 
"We're going to have to come with the same intensity," Posey said. "We're going to give our best effort to get another positive result."