6 Pioneers get goals, hand SAGU 1st loss

Box Score The Wayland Baptist men's soccer team recorded its second straight shutout Tuesday evening at Hilliard Field, and this time it was an impressive 7-0 defeat of previously-unbeaten Southwestern Assemblies of God University.
 
The Lions entered the Sooner Athletic Conference opener with an impressive 8-0-1 record, but the Pioneers (5-3-1, 1-0 SAC) didn't allow the Lions to leave as they came.
 
Leading scorer Guillermo Deal landed the first blow in the 18th-minute by beating his man and putting one over the goalkeeper's head. It was Deal's fifth goal of the season.
 
Not long after, Taval Whittaker took a strike from right outside the box for his fourth marker of the season that put the Pioneers up 2-0 entering the halfway point.
 
With the Lions taking just one shot the entire match, Wayland used its depth to consistently attack in the second half, and the Pioneers got on a scoring roll.
 
Gian Scalise scored his first two goals of the season in the 66th minute and 74th minute, then Christopher Lamorte notched his first of the season a minute later. The goals kept coming as Javier Parry kicked in his third of the season and D'Angelo Garcia moved his goal total to two as both scored inside the same minute (88th).
 
WBU Coach Cristhian Ospina was pleased with his team's effort and togetherness, which he believes will make them that much tougher to beat.
 
"They played really well and shared the ball," Ospina said. "I think we are becoming a team. That's going to help us out a lot."
 
Ospina was most impressed by his substitutes' performances, with four of the team's six goals coming from reserves.
 
"We're going to need that playing two or three games a week," he said.
 
Also on the positive side, the coach said, the six goals could help Wayland later in case
of a tie for seeding.
 
"Any team you can score a lot of points against counts for something," Ospina said.
 
The Pioneers wrap up a seven-match home-stand when they take on Texas Wesleyan at 4 p.m. Saturday. In their meeting last year, the Rams defeated the Pioneers, 1-0. TWU (3-6) opened conference play by hosting St. Gregory's on Tuesday.
 
"We have to stay focused, remain humble and play together," Ospina said.