Pioneers fight off Central Christian's comeback, remain unbeaten in conference

Wayland Baptist roared to a three-goal lead then fought off a second-half charge by Central Christian University as the Pioneers continued their best start to a season with a 3-2 Sooner Athletic Conference victory Saturday night at Hilliard Field.
 
"The first half I thought we played really well. After that we continued to play well but we missed a couple of opportunities that we should have been able to finish," Wayland coach Shiloh Posey said.
 
"But I'm proud of the way we did things tonight."
 
The Tigers (4-7, 0-4 SAC) pulled to within one goal in the 72^nd minute, so the Pioneers (6-1-2, 3-0-1 SAC) spent the rest of the time mostly on the defensive, especially after a red card in the 74^th minute following a foul in the box meant Wayland playing a man-down. It also gave Central Christian a golden chance to tie it with a penalty kick, but Mariah Godinez's shot went wide.
 
The Lady Tigers got off three more shots after that, but none were on goal, with the last two being blocked.
 
Wayland scored all three of its goals in the first 24:07 of the match, which started late when game officials had the Pioneers change jerseys because they were too similarly-colored to Central Christian's.
 
Goal No. 1 was courtesy of top-scorer Taylor Moore, who notched her 10^th goal of the season after going 1-on-1 with CCC keeper Hanna Koehn.
 
Fellow senior Megan Attenborough made it 2-0 when she scored her fifth goal of the season on another 1-v-1 shot from 15 yards out after a nice pass from Estefany Gonzalez.
 
Central Christian made the first of its two goalkeeper changes due to injury after that. The Pioneers didn't blink and made it 3-0 when junior transfer Bianca Roman scored her first Wayland goal on a free kick from some 30 yards out. Roman sent the ball high into the far corner with less than half the first period expired.
 
"It was nice to get three goals in the first (24) minutes," Posey said. "We had the wind at our back, which is sometimes good and sometimes not, but we were able to turn it into a positive.
Our movement away from the ball gave us some openings and opportunities and we were able to take advantage of those."
 
The Tigers were forced to make another change in goal in the 30^th minute as sophomore forward Mackenzie Kispert – after transforming the number on a keeper's jersey with some creative taping – came in to defend. Kispert wound up with five saves and didn't allow Wayland to extend its lead.
 
"She did a great job tonight on very short notice," Posey said of Kispert.
 
At halftime, Posey said he told his team to "continue to do what you've been doing and to stay focused and concentrate on doing their jobs."
 
But Central Christian turned up the heat on what turned into a chilly evening, and the Tigers scored their first goal in the 62^nd minute, then their second less than 10 minutes later.
 
"They came out and started pushing on us a little bit," said Posey, adding that offensively the Pioneers kept pressing but didn't have the same luck they had in the first half.
 
"We broke their back line but just missed our chances," he said.
 
"We can't let a team hang around. If you've got the advantage you have to continue to press and take advantage of your opportunities. If you don't, breaks may turn the other way and you're scrambling a little bit."
 
Central Christian did make Wayland scramble, but the missed PK helped save the day.
 
Wayland starting freshman keeper Jessie Rivera recorded two saves, both in the second half, before giving way to Maci Merket in the last 10 minutes.
 
The Pioneers ended with 19 shots, eight of those by Moore who put half of her attempts on-goal. The Lady Tigers fired 10 shots, four on-target.
 
Next for Wayland is a trip to Siloam Springs, Ark., to face ninth-ranked John Brown (8-2-1, 3-0 SAC) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19. The Golden Eagles have won five in a row, all by shutout including a 5-0 victory Saturday at Oklahoma City University. JBU hosts Oklahoma-Panhandle State on Thursday.
 
"We have a huge game on Saturday at John Brown," Posey said. "They are always tough, especially at home. They're the one team I've never been able to beat (14-0-3). That's an added motivation we carry into next week."
 
Wayland and John Brown are the last two remaining unbeaten teams in the conference.
 
"I'm proud of the way the girls have been playing," Posey said. "Now we have to step it up even more."