Posey likes what he sees before home-opener

Coming off what veteran coach Shiloh Posey called one of the most complete performances in several years in their season-opener, the Wayland Baptist women's soccer team is set to make its 2019 home debut at 5 p.m. Friday when the Pioneers host Sul Ross State at J.V. Hilliard Field.

"That was the best put-together game I've seen from us in a long time," Posey, in his 13^th season, said following Monday's season-opening 3-1 road victory over University of the Southwest (N.M.). "Our overall focus and willingness to do what needed to be done was encouraging to see. Consistency doing that is going to be a big a part of what we hope to develop this year."

The Pioneers went 9-7-1 last season, including 4-4 in the Sooner Athletic Conference with a third straight setback in the first round of the conference tournament. The nine wins represented the second-most in program history, behind only the 13-6-1 mark in 2013.

Two of the top players from that team – seniors Taylor Moore and Megan Attenborough – return after earning all-SAC first- and second-team honors, respectively. Moore, a forward from San Angelo, was WBU's top goal scorer in 2018 as her 11 goals represented almost half of the team's total of 23. Attenborough, a midfielder and native of England, was next on the team with three goals.

Posey said both players have picked up where they left off in 2018.

"Both Megan and Taylor have proven by their work ethic and the effort we've seen that they really want to be successful," the coach said. "Their outlook is becoming infectious, and people are beginning to buy in and realize what needs to be done to be successful this year."

The Pioneers got a big boost with the transfer of a handful of junior college standouts, most notably defender Bianca Roman of Fort Worth (Tyler JC), midfielder Vitoria Alves-Balieiro of Brazil (Iowa Central CC), and Fortune Kede of Ghana (Northeast Oklahoma A&M).

"All of our transfers have already been big pieces of what we're doing. They came right in and made an immediate impact for us. We're happy to have them and the experience they bring to the group. I'm looking forward to watching all of them develop over the year."

Wayland also boosted its roster with the influx of seven freshmen, and among the brightest are three midfielders: Aryial Garcia of Lubbock, and Briana Moore and Natalie Terry, former teammates at Odessa Permian High School.

"We have some young players who have stepped in and done a good job," Posey said. "We've asked some of them to play positions they're not extremely familiar with, but they've responded and done well."

Overall, the coach – while admitting we "have a lot of things we need to work on" – said he's pleased with how his 24-player roster is coming together.
"The personalities are meshing well. That's an important part to our mentality and the environment we're trying to create."

Posey said the Pioneers got better in each of their three preseason scrimmages leading up to Monday's season-opener, before which several players gained NAIA eligibility clearance and saw the field for the first time.

"We made improvements each time out, and Monday was our best outing. We're making improvements every day."

Posey said he's telling his team to consistently do the little things right.

"When you do little things consistently well you give yourself an opportunity to succeed. It's not guaranteed, but at least you give yourself a chance to succeed. If you don't you're almost guaranteed a loss."

In addition, he said it's important that the Pioneers don't get ahead of themselves.

"You have to look to what's in front of you. We can't afford to overlook anyone

Having already avenged a 2-0 loss to University of the Southwest last season, the Pioneers will be looking for paybacks from a 3-1 road loss to Sul Ross State in 2017 when they meet Friday at "The Bowl."

After that, the Pioneers travel to San Antonio to face Our Lady of the Lake and to Odessa to take on Texas-Permian Basin before returning home for their final non-conference home match Sept. 17 against Howard Payne.

"I'm positive and optimistic going forward," Posey said. "They picked us (to finish fifth) in conference. We're hoping to disprove some people."