Box Score
Central Christian changed its strategy a bit when the Tigers came to Plainview to take on Wayland Baptist in the first round of the Sooner Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament.
It didn't do the Tigers any good as the No. 23 Pioneers prevailed, this time even more convincingly than before, 5-0.
"They played a little differently this time. Last time they sat in the back and waited for us to make a mistake. They were less conservative this time," WBU coach Cristhian Ospina said about Thursday afternoon's match at Hilliard Field.
Wayland won 2-1 when the teams met on the same pitch Sept. 30, and the rematch was shaping up to be another close one with Wayland clinging to a 1-0 halftime lead. Off an assist by James Quinn, Ricardo Ramos notched the lone first-half goal just over 10 minutes into the action.
The Pioneers then blew it wide open with four second-half goals, easily securing a spot in the tournament semifinals Monday. Ramos and James Westfield scored twice apiece to power the SAC regular-season champion Pioneers (15-2-1) against the eighth-seeded Tigers (10-8-1).
"I was not too pleased with the first half. Even though we dominated, we didn't score enough, and you never know what can happen," Ospina said. "That's what we fixed at halftime."
Did they ever.
Ramos scored again, his ninth goal of the season, before Westfield put in two back-to-back for his team-leading 10th and 11th goals. Westfield's first goal came on a header in the 55th minute, just five minutes after Ramos' second goal. Raheem Fleming assisted Westfield on his second goal in the 70th minute.
"You have to put the game away. We wanted to score the goals we needed to, then rest," Ospina said. "The guys came out and took care of business."
The Pioneers cleared the bench the rest of the way, with Fleming getting the fifth goal, and his fifth of the season, in the 90th minute with an assist from Jonathan Luna.
"Everybody got to play. All the guys who came in did a good job," Ospina said. "We kept them scoreless and scored plenty on our side."
WBU keeper Ziggy Carmejo went to the bench after 75 minutes, having recorded two saves. Jurlef Salazar finished out the match in goal for the Pioneers, who outshot the Tigers, 25-6, including 11-2 shots on-goal.
"I felt we were in control the whole time," Ospina said.
Freshman midfielder Gavin Shiels saw his first action since suffering a knee injury mid-October.
"We were able to get Gavin some minutes, so that was really good for us," Ospina said. "He feels OK, and hopefully we can keep slowly working him until he's 100 percent."
Wayland awaits the winner between fourth-seeded Science & Arts of Oklahoma (12-5-1) and fifth-seeded Mid-America Christian (12-4-1), which met later Thursday in Chickasha, Okla.
"We're ready to play both teams," Ospina said. "We'll get ready for our next game on Monday."
In Thursday's other action, second-seeded Southwestern Christian dominated Bacone, 4-0, while third-seeded Oklahoma City hosted sixth-seeded John Brown.
2017 SAC Championships
Quarterfinals
Thursday, Nov. 2
Wayland Baptist 5, Central Christian 0
Mid-America Christian (#5, 12-4-1, 6-3-1) at Science and Arts of Oklahoma (#4, 12-5-1, 7-3), in Chickasha, Okla.
John Brown (#6, 8-8-1, 4-5-1) at Oklahoma City (#3, 14-3-1, 7-2-1), in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Southwestern Christian 4, Bacone 0
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Semifinals
Monday, Nov. 6
USAO/MACU winner at Wayland Baptist (#1, 15-2-1), TBA
OCU/JBU winner at Southwestern Christian (#2, 15-4-0), TBA
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Final
Thursday, Nov. 9
Semifinal winners, hosted by higher-seeded team
