Season-opener a resounding success

By almost all accounts, the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team's first outing since winning the 2017 national championship was a resounding success.
 
Facing Lubbock Christian on Saturday night at Hilliard Field in front of a crowd of more than 200, Wayland was able to celebrate its national title with a pre-game ring ceremony before the Pioneers recorded a convincing 3-0 victory over the NCAA Division II Chaparrals.
 
The game ended with 13:14 left in the second half due to lightning, but even that was OK since it resulted in a nice rain shower.
 
Wayland coach Cristhian Ospina was happy with the fan turnout, with the recognition of last season's national champs, and most importantly with the win, even though he said there's still a lot of work to do.
 
"I don't think we played really well," Ospina said. "Our mentality was right and their will was there. They played with their heart, and that's what helped us win the game. They showed good improvement as far mentality and coming together as a team.
 
"But we're still far from where we want to be."
 
Ospina was a bit concerned how his players would react after the returners from last year received their national championship rings right before the season-opener, but he thought they handled it well.
 
"It was good to recognize the guys, and they used that as motivation," he said.
 
The first goal of the season came just 10 minutes, 37 seconds in when senior forward Luis Almeida beat the LCU keeper and connected on a short-range shot from a tough angle on the left post.
 
Wayland's second and third goals came just over two minutes apart in the second half, not long before the match was halted.
 
In the 70^th minute, the Pioneers went up 2-0 when newcomer Chris Eduardo of London scored from 10 yards out after a shot by Ricardo Ramos was deflected by the Chaps' keeper. Then in the 72^nd minute, Ramos got a goal for himself when he sent a beautiful shot on a free kick from some 30 yards out.
 
Less than three minutes later, officials stopped the match due to lightning in the area. Coaches then agreed to end it. Because the match went more than 75 minutes, it's recorded as an official contest and Wayland's first win.
 
"We adjusted a couple of things and played a much better second half," Ospina said. We were able to control the game a little bit more in the second half after we made adjustments. I'd say in the first half it was 50-50."
 
The Pioneers took 19 shots, 11 of which were on-goal, compared to just one on-goal shot for LCU in six tries. Eduardo led WBU with five shots, all but one of which were on-target.
Senior keeper Ziggy Camejo racked up his first shutout of the season after earning four last season.
 
"We have to do a better job moving the ball forward and staying organized defensively," Ospina said. "We didn't give away goals, which was good, but LCU had a couple of chances in set pieces, so we need to improve a lot in that."
 
The coach was complimentary of sophomore Stefano Pesce who stepped into the starting lineup at the last-minute for junior Emiliano Fama, who was injured during pre-game warm-up.
"Stefano stepped up and did a good job. I was really happy with him."
 
In fact, Wayland was without three players Saturday due to injury, two others who have not yet been cleared by the NAIA, and another who was missing due to family business.
"All of that and we were still able to win. That tells us a lot about our team," Ospina said.
 
The game was an exhibition for LCU, which in an earlier exhibition defeated University of the Southwest, N.M., 4-1.
 
Wayland's next match is 3 p.m. Wednesday at home against Huston-Tillotson. It will be the season-opener for the Rams after two scrimmages. A member of the NAIA's Red River Athletic Conference, Huston-Tillotson went 6-6-2 last season, including a 1-0 loss to Wayland in Austin.
 
Ospina hopes to have good crowds like the Pioneers enjoyed Saturday night all season.
 
"I want to thank everyone for coming to the game. We really appreciate that. It helps a lot," he said.
 
NOTE: Around the Sooner Athletic Conference, Southwestern Christian -- a team picked third in the SAC behind Wayland and USAO -- knocked off second-ranked Missouri Valley on Saturday in Bethany, Okla., 3-1. Wayland defeated Missouri Valley in the national championship match last year, 1-0 in double-overtime.