SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. – John Brown scored a golden goal 2½ minutes into the second overtime to defeat Wayland Baptist, 2-1, and end the Pioneers' season in the semifinals of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals.
Fourth-seeded Wayland winds up with a 9-4-4 record under first-year coach
Robert Ssejjemba, while the top-seeded, regular-season champion Golden Eagles (16-3-0) advance to the SAC Tournament championship for the first time since 2012. Ranked the equivalent of 29
th in the NAIA, JBU will face either second-seeded Mid-America Christian (15-2-1) or third-seeded Science & Arts of Oklahoma (12-5-1), which meet Tuesday at MACU.
"I'm very proud of the performance tonight. The guys left everything on field, every one of them. We kept our shape well and won our individual battles," Ssejjemba said.
Wayland and JBU met at Alumni Field for the second time in three weeks. The Golden Eagles won the first meeting, 2-0.
Sunday's rematch, originally scheduled to be played Monday, was moved ahead a day due to the threat of inclement weather.
After a scoreless first half, the Pioneers ended the stalemate when
Lucas Travis scored almost 72 minutes in, assisted by
Adir Versano and
Jesus Martinez.
The lead lasted just 67 seconds, though, when JBU's Amilcar Gonzalez recorded the equalizer.
"We were brave and had the courage to play, and because of that persistence we went in the lead. However, we did not hold onto our lead for long. We lost our concentration briefly and they scored the equalizer," Ssejjemba said.
The game-winner from Oscar Carballo came 2:29 into the second extra period after a free kick by the Eagles.
Wayland, playing without senior scoring leader
James Westfield who was injured in the Pioneers' shootout victory in Friday's first round against Southwestern Christian, was outshot 21-8. Besides' Travis' goal, only one other shot was on-goal, courtesy of
Jose Hincapie.
Pioneer goalkeeper
Gonzalo Santa, meanwhile, recorded 10 saves. Carballo fired eight shots, the last of which won it.
Ssejjemba said his first season at the helm of the Pioneers was memorable.
"It was an incredible journey seeing the players grow into a good team that genuinely cared for each other."
