Robert Ssejjemba breathed his first sigh of relief as new Wayland Baptist men's soccer coach Monday night after the Pioneers edged out Ssejjemba's former team, University of the Southwest, by a 1-0 final in the season-opener.
"The guys had to really dig deep," said Ssejjemba (Suh-GYM-buh), adding that at least a couple of missed scoring chances and playing a man down for the final 34½ minutes made the match closer than it might have otherwise been. "We made things hard on ourselves."
Senior
James Westfield had a chance to record a hat trick but "missed two simple chances that he normally puts away," Ssejjemba said. Still, Westfield was able to score once, and that's all it took to earn the win thanks to a stellar defensive effort led by freshman keeper
Juan Basabe.
The Pioneers now turn their sights on making a successful home debut when they host Sul Ross State at 7 p.m. Friday at J.V. Hilliard Field in the second game of a doubleheader with the women's team. Playing on their home pitch has been good to Wayland the past three years as the team has won 27 times against just four on-field losses since 2016.
One of those losses came in the season finale last season during the semifinals of the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament. That stung because – after claiming a third-straight SAC regular-season title and despite being ranked 13
th in the NAIA – the defending national champions were denied an at-large bid into the national tournament.
Now, two years removed from the only non-track & field national title in school history, Ssejjemba is determined to get the Pioneers back on the national stage.
"This program historically has been a successful program, and we're shooting for similar goals this year," Ssejjemba said. "We want to compete for the conference championship and maintain high standards. That's the goal every day at practice."
To accomplish their goal, the Pioneers will have to do it with a roster that looks a little different than in the recent past.
"We're not as deep as the last couple of years," Ssejjemba said. "But the guys are working hard. I like their work ethic, and they're very together. Everyone is united. I'm just praying we stay healthy."
Despite losing a pair of valuable seniors in two-time all-American and SAC Defender of the Year Alex Castillo and SAC Goalkeeper of the Year
Ziggy Camejo, the new coach inherited a solid nucleus of veterans from last year's squad. Among them were Westfield, a two-time all-conference first-team honoree from England who ranked second on the team a year ago with six goals and 15 points.
Other veterans back are senior forward
Santiago Pereyra of Argentina, junior middle
Stefano Pesce of Italy, senior midfielder
Adir Versano of Israel, senior midfielder
Jose Hincapie of Colombia, and junior defender
Nick Ramos of Lubbock.
"I'm pleased with the returning players. Those guys are really taking on a leadership role (by) picking up everyone in practice," Ssejjemba said. "They've all done well in the past here, and I can see their mindset is still the same."
A cross between a veteran and a new player is
Tre Hinds, the 18-time all-American and six-time national champion in track and field. An NAIA Scholar-Athlete and the SAC's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year who also won the Roscoe Snyder Award as Wayland's top senior male athlete, Hinds was quite the soccer player in his native Barbados before concentrating on track.
Ssejjemba called the 6-foot-3 Hinds his "best defender right now. Tre is a very good player. I've been pleased with his transition from track to soccer."
Among brand new WBU student-athletes, Ssejjemba said a pair of transfers from San Joaquin Delta College in California – junior midfielder
Hector Romero and junior forward
Lucas Travis – have him excited.
"We haven't seen Lucas yet (because of injury), but Hector had a good preseason and I'm looking forward to a good season from both of them," the coach said.
Another transfer, 6-foot-2 junior center-back
Alek Martinez of Mexico by way of Western Texas College in Snyder, "has been solid in the back," and yet another newcomer with a super bright future is freshman goalkeeper Juan Basaba of Spain. "He has been really solid. He's playing like a veteran right now," said Ssejjemba, adding that junior
Gonzalo Santa Martinez of Spain, a transfer from Laredo College, is "waiting for his chance" in goal.
Friday's match will be Wayland's first-ever against Sul Ross State, which comes to town with an 0-1 record after losing its opener Saturday to St. Thomas-Houston, 1-0 in overtime. Earlier, the Lobos defeated Western Texas in a scrimmage, 1-0.
After Friday, the Pioneers hit the road for matches at Our Lady of the Lake on Monday in San Antonio and against Huston-Tillotson on Friday, Sept. 13 in Austin before returning home to face Howard Payne Sept. 17. SAC play begins a week after that at home against Oklahoma-Panhandle State.
The Pioneers are seen by conference coaches as finishing fifth.
"The SAC is a tough conference, but we have a group of guys that are familiar with the conference and know their positions really well. If we can establish some momentum and ride it we should be fine."
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