Women's soccer gives 'gutty effort' in OT loss

Box Score Shiloh Posey called it a "gutty" effort. Unfortunately for his Wayland Baptist women's soccer team, it didn't result in a Senior Night victory.
 
After 94½ minutes of lay-it-on-the-line soccer, the Pioneers – reduced to 10 healthy players – saw St. Gregory's Hanna Arthur barely roll a ball past Wayland goalkeeper Erin Moon as the Cavaliers tallied a 1-0 overtime victory in Sooner Athletic Conference play Tuesday night at Hilliard Field.
 
"The girls gave everything they could give," Posey said. "It was an incredible effort. They could not have done anything more than what they did."
 
Starting with just 11 players, Wayland (4-10, 3-5 SAC) couldn't get on the board despite several nice opportunities.
 
"We created a few chances at the beginning of the game but obviously didn't capitalize," Posey said.
 
As the match wore on, the Pioneers – without any substitutes – slowly began to wear down. Then, with 13:16 left in regulation, Gabrielle Munoz was injured and had to leave the match, leaving Wayland to play a man-down the rest of the way.
 
The Pioneers managed to fend off St. Gregory's (6-8-1, 2-5-1) the rest of regulation, forcing Wayland's first overtime of the season and third for the Cavaliers.
 
Gabby Maguire got off a shot-on-goal 27 seconds into OT. Four minutes later, Arthur took a long pass from midfield from Concepcion Laborin, and Arthur got beyond a couple of Pioneers to leave herself 1-on-1 with Moon. Wayland's senior keeper got a hand on the shot from just outside the box, but it got past her and, with Moon giving chase, just made its way into the goal.
 
"I thought she was going to slow it up enough, but she couldn't quite do it," Posey said of Moon's effort.
 
It was Arthur's team-high eighth goal of the season.
 
St. Gregory's ended with twice as many shots – 18 to nine, including 11 to four shots on-goal. Chelsea Beaubouef led Pioneer shooters with four shots, two of which were on-target.
 
Posey praised his team's effort.
 
"They all played for each other and played to get the win. I think they did all they could do. I am really, really proud of them. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce the way you want it to."
 
The coach said he told his team after the match that they proved what they're capable of.
 
"I told them, 'Now you know you can give this amount of effort, to this level, it applies not only to the game of soccer but the game of life. Now when you face other obstacles, you know you can continue to go, continue to push.
 
"It shows a level of commitment I don't think they knew they had."
 
Before the final home match of the season, six seniors were recognized: Moon, Valeria Johnson, Zeltzin Gutierrez, Beaubouef, Natalie Stahmann and Munoz.
 
Wayland hits the road for its final two regular-season outings against Texas Wesleyan (11-3, 6-2) at 5 p.m. Saturday in Fort Worth then Southwestern Assemblies of God (9-7, 5-3) at 1 p.m. Monday.
 
The Pioneers also will be on the road for the SAC Tournament, which pits teams at the site of the higher seed. Wayland figures to be a sub-No. 4 seed in the eight-team tourney.