Box Score DALLAS – In their final tune-up before the start of Sooner Athletic Conference play, the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team battled Paul Quinn to a 3-3, double-overtime tie here Friday afternoon.
"It was a good test before conference. We had to deal with a lot of situations we will see in conference," Wayland coach
Robert Ssejjemba said.
The tie moved Wayland's record to 4-0-2, while the Tigers moved to 3-0-4.
Wayland went up 1-0 when
Tre Hinds scored Wayland's first goal on a free kick delivered by
Adir Versano from the right side. Hinds, the 18-time all-American and six-time national champion track star in his first year playing soccer at Wayland, met the ball with a volley off his left foot for his first goal as a Pioneer.
The Tigers equalized and then scored again to take a 2-1 halftime lead.
"For the first time this season the opponent had the lead and we needed to show some character to tie the game. Our response was good," Ssejjemba said.
James Westfield was able to make it 2-2 when Versano split the defense, releasing Westfield one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Westfield placed the ball in the far right corner of the equalizer for his team-best sixth goal of the season.
The Pioneers went back into the lead, 3-2, on a goal by Versano after he tapped home a loose ball on a big throw-in from the right side by
Erik Luzanilla. It was the second straight super performance for Versano, who scored once and had three assists in Tuesday's 7-1 win over Howard Payne before getting another goal with two helpers against Paul Quinn.
"We had some good individual performances. Adir put in a man-of-the-match performance with a goal and two assists," Ssejjemba said. "Danny Torres was brilliant for us in the midfield, breaking down many of Paul Quinn's attacks and linking up with our attack from his defensive midfield role."
The Tigers scraped together and managed to tie it at 3, then neither team scored in either of the 10-minute overtime periods.
Junior
Gonzalo Santa was in goal for the Pioneers. "He denied Paul Quinn a few opportunities to extend their lead," Ssejjemba said.
The match gave Wayland some indication as to what to expect in conference play since all but one of Paul Quinn's previous opponents are SAC members. The Tigers also tied USAO (2-2) and Oklahoma-Panhandle State (3-3), while defeating SAGU (2-1) and Texas Wesleyan (3-1). The Tigers also defeated former SAC member Bacone (13-0), while PQC's result against Southwest Adventist on Thursday was not immediate available.
Wayland hosts soccer newcomer OPSU (4-1-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the second game of a doubleheader with the women. The Aggies dropped their program debut to Texas College, 4-0, but haven't lost since, defeating Barclay College (14-1 and 9-0), Texas College (2-0) and University of the Southwest (4-3 in OT), in addition to the double-overtime tie with Paul Quinn.
