Senior Day for the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team could have ended better…but it also could have ended worse. In the end, it ended in a tie.
The Pioneers and Oklahoma City University played to a 1-1 deadlock in Sooner Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at Hilliard Field.
On a day when 10 senior Pioneers were recognized before WBU's final regular-season home match, the tie moved Wayland's overall record to 8-2-3 and its SAC mark to 4-2-1. OCU goes to 6-8-2, 1-5-2.
It took the visitors just 7 minutes, 18 seconds to score the first goal, after a corner kick on a header by Guilherme Grave for his fourth goal of the season.
"We started slow today and we were punished for it in the first half from the corner kick," Wayland coach
Robert Ssejjemba said. "However, in the second half we improved our intensity and got on the ball more."
The Pioneers recorded the equalizer on a goal by senior
Santiago Pereyra, who shot from some 15 yards out after a cross from
Adir Versano following a midfield free kick by
Tre Hinds. It was the sixth goal of the season for Pereyra and team-leading ninth assist for Versano, which ties him for second in the SAC.
"Our increased pressure resulted in our goal, but it was not enough to break down OCU," said Ssejjemba, whose team just missed on multiple prime scoring chances.
Both teams took 13 shots, although the Pioneers got seven of theirs on-goal compared to only three for OCU. Versano paced Wayland with four shots, all but one of which was on-target.
Lucas Travis and
James Westfield fired three apiece.
"We have not played many teams that defended from so deep, so we struggled to create opportunities to score goals," Ssejjemba said.
The Pioneers play their final two regular-season games on the road next week, first in Fort Worth at 7 p.m. Tuesday against Texas Wesleyan (4-12, 3-4), which has alternated wins and losses over its last seven outings. The Rams fell at home on Friday to league-leading John Brown, 4-1.
Wayland winds up the regular-season Nov. 2 in Chickasha, Okla., against Science & Arts of Oklahoma (9-5-1, 4-3), which is right behind fourth-place Wayland in the SAC standings. The Drovers are on a four-game winning streak, most recently beating Central Christian on Saturday in Kansas, 3-0.
