Staying on top won't be easy

Getting to the top certainly wasn't easy, but Cristhian Ospina and his Wayland Baptist men's soccer team know that staying there will be even harder.

"Last year we were flying under the radar. Nobody really paid attention to us. We were the underdogs. Now, everybody has eyes on us, so it will be tougher," Ospina said as the Pioneers prepare to begin defense of their NAIA national championship with their season-opener Saturday against Lubbock Christian. Action at Hilliard Field gets under way at 7 p.m.

A special recognition will take place prior to the match to honor the 2017 team, which last fall captured Wayland's first NAIA national title outside of track and field. The improbable run concluded in Delray Beach, Fla., with a 1-0, double-overtime upset of Missouri Valley as the Pioneers – who had been to the national championship tournament just once before and were ranked 23^rd going into the post-season – finished their ninth season of competition with a 17-5-3 record. If not for three early-season forfeits, Wayland would have lost just twice all season.

Ospina's fifth team appears to be in good position to do more great things. All but three starters are back off last year's roster, no doubt a big reason why Wayland is the near unanimous No. 1 team in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25.

Though flattered, Ospina is cautious about his team's top billing.

"This is a new year, a new team," he said. "Last year everybody thought it was a rebuilding year and we ended up winning everything. Rankings really didn't matter for us last year, and this year won't be any different."

Still, bringing eight starters and 13 lettermen back off a national championship squad is a pretty good spot in which to be.

Among the returners is Alex Castillo, a senior defender from Dallas who was the team's lone all-American honoree. Castillo – Wayland's first non-honorable mention all-American (he was named to the third team; current assistant coach Miguel Teos was all-American honorable mention in 2013) – also earned Sooner Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.

Also back is senior defender James Quinn of England, whose seven goals and nine assists earned him All-SAC First Team honors. Another James from England, junior James Westfield, also was All-SAC First Team after tying a program record with 14 goals. Another senior veteran is forward Ricardo Ramos of Portugal, an All-SAC Second Team pick who was second on the team with a dozen goals.

Senior Ziggy Camejo of the Bronx, N.Y., returns in goal where in 2017 he recorded a .778 save percentage. Other starters back are senior forward Luis Almeida of Portugal, sophomore middle Federico Ucar of Uruguay who scored the national championship-winning goal, and sophomore defender Nick Ramos of Lubbock.

"We have the talent, it's just a matter of finding the right balance and getting the new guys to do what we want them to do," Ospina said.

Among the new players is Molley Karpeh, who Ospina said "could be one of our top strikers." Karpeh, of Liberia, is a transfer who was cleared by the NAIA late last season but ultimately was redshirted. Now he's ready to help give the Pioneers even more offensive firepower.

Ospina might be more concerned with defense since a pair of all-conference first teamers, center-back Ross Brown and center mid-fielder Lochlan Reus who provided a team-leading 11 assists, are both gone, as is defender Ryan Montgomery, now a graduate assistant for the Pioneers.

"We're struggling a little bit with defense. We're far from where we need to be. We have to come together and figure things out," Ospina said.
The coach added that it's OK that the Pioneers aren't completely meshing right now.

"We always try to peak at the right time, and the right time is not at the beginning (of the season)."

The Pioneers scrimmaged Northeast Texas Community College, coached by former WBU graduate assistant Dean Johnson, last Friday. Based on his team's performance in that outing and their preseason workouts, Ospina said the Pioneers have a lot of work to do.

"We've started really slowly, slower than last year, but we're working to get where we want to be," he said. "We're excited for the season, but we understand that we still have to work to get where we want to be."

Saturday's season-opening opponent, former NAIA rival Lubbock Christian, will be a strong test for Wayland, Ospina said. The Chaparrals went 5-11-2 last year and are picked to finish eighth in the NCAA Division II's Heartland Conference, but Ospina said the Chaps show lots of promise, and last week tallied a convincing 4-1 exhibition win over University of the Southwest, N.M.

"It should be a really physical game. They are a very good team," Ospina said.

After Saturday, WBU hosts Huston-Tillotson at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29 before going to Frisco to face Wiley College and to Tulsa, Okla., to take on Columbia, Mo. Ranked No. 7 in the preseason, Columbia figures to be Wayland's toughest challenge during the regular-season. Wayland scraped by Columbia in the national quarterfinals last season in the first of back-to-back outcomes in which the Pioneers advanced on penalty kicks.

Looking ahead to Sooner Athletic Conference play, the only other SAC team besides Wayland to appear in the Top 25 is University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, which is ranked the equivalent of 37^th. USAO is the last team to defeat Wayland, which brings a 12-match unbeaten streak into the 2018 campaign.

"Obviously the big picture is winning nationals again. But we have to take it step-by-step. Our first goal is to win conference, then the conference tournament, then hopefully go to nationals again.

"We have to remain humble and work as hard as any other team to get where we want to be."