HOBBS, N.M. – They only scored one goal, but that's all that was needed as the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team won its season-opener on Monday night over University of the Southwest, N.M., 1-0.
The match marked the debut for WBU coach Robert Ssejjemba as he faced his former team from Hobbs.
James Westfield scored the lone goal in the first half. The Pioneers drew a foul on the right side of the penalty box. Adir Versano delivered a powerful ball in the box which Stefano Pesce headed back across the face of the goal. Westfield, a two-time All-Sooner Athletic Conference first-team senior who was second on the team last season with six goals, then headed it home from close range.
"We did a great job of controlling the ball and combining well in front of the opponent's goal," Ssejjemba said. "With the chances we created, we should have scored more goals. Our goalkeeper (freshman Juan Basabe Baque) also kept us in the game with some big saves."
Baque, of Spain, logged four saves.
Wayland took 27 shots, including 15 on-goal, compared to 24 shots for the Mustangs, half of which were on-goal. Pesce fired nine shots while Westfield and Versano took six apiece. Six of Versano's attempts were on target.
The WBU defense picked up where it left off last season when the Pioneers recorded 11 shutouts and allowed just nine goals all season.
Wayland improved to 6-4-1 all-time in series openers and to 6-2 all-time against USW, a team the Pioneers defeated last year in Plainview, 2-0. The Mustangs fell to 0-3, having fallen previously to Lubbock Christian, 6-0, and Texas-Permian Basin, 2-0.
The Pioneers open their home schedule at 7 p.m. Friday against Sul Ross State, which opened its season with a 1-0 overtime road loss to St. Thomas-Houston on Saturday.
