FORT WORTH – Wayland Baptist got goals from
Jose Hincapie,
Gerardo Perdomo and
James Westfield, and goalkeeper
Gonzalo Santa came up with seven saves as the Pioneers ended the regular-season with a 3-1 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Texas Wesleyan here Tuesday night.
"I'm very proud of the performance tonight. We knew that we needed a result to get a home-field advantage and the guys responded well," Wayland coach
Robert Ssejjemba said.
The game, postponed a week due to weather concerns, saw Hincapie score just nine minutes into the match. Perdomo made it 2-0 in the 21
st minute on another unassisted goal.
They were the third goals of the season for both Hincapie, a senior, and Perdomo, a sophomore.
Westfield, Wayland's career scoring leader, put the Pioneers up by three with his team-leading 14
th goal of the season, assisted by Eric Luzanilla, just three minutes after halftime.
Julius Williams got the Rams on the board with a goal in the 73
rd minute. It was the only shot that got past Santa, who recorded seven saves.
The Pioneers took 18 shots, three more than Texas Wesleyan, which had one more on-goal attempt. Westfield fired eight shots, three of which were on-target.
"We took care of the ball and stretched the field very well, utilizing space and creating opportunities to score," Ssejjemba said. "Every department did their job tonight."
The win secured a home playoff match for Wayland (9-3-3, 5-3-1 SAC) in the first round of the SAC Championships. The fourth-seeded Pioneers will host fifth-seeded Southwestern Christian (9-8, 5-4) at 4 p.m. Friday. Wayland defeated the Eagles on Oct. 22 at Hilliard Field, 4-1. SCU ended the regular-season Saturday with a 2-0 loss at regular-season champion John Brown.
The winner between Wayland and Southwestern Christian will get the winner between top-seeded, regular-season champion John Brown (14-3, 8-1) and eighth-seeded Southwestern Assemblies of God University in the tourney semifinals Nov. 11. The championship is Nov. 14.
All matches will be played at the site of the higher seed.
