CHICKASHA, Okla. –
Marco Magnoli scored with 3:50 left in the second overtime to give Wayland Baptist a 2-1 victory over University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma here Friday night.
The win over the previously-unbeaten Drovers in Wayland's final scheduled game of the fall boosted the Pioneers to 5-1 on the two-semester season. USAO fell to 4-1-2.
"I'm very proud of my team today. What a team performance against a very good USAO team," Wayland coach
Robert Ssejjemba said. "We showed courage and we were brave all game. We suffered for each other, especially in overtime when USAO threw everything at us."
It was the Pioneers' third win in 14 meetings (3-9-2) against perennial power USAO. Wayland's last victory over the Drovers was a 6-0 triumph in 2016. WBU also won in Chickasha, 2-1 in overtime, in 2013.
Playing for the first time in two weeks, Wayland's first goal came courtesy of
Hector Romero, who notched his 12
th of the season in the 22
nd minute with an assist by
Alek Martinez. Romero's dozen goals – just two short of the program record set by Guillermo Deal in 2016 and matched by
James Westfield in 2017 and 2019 – rank third in the NAIA.
USAO tied it with a goal in the 75
th minute, and the teams went to what was Wayland's first overtime of the season.
The game-winner, as described by Ssejjemba, came from a quick free kick after
Lewis Richmond was fouled in WBU's end of the pitch.
Stefano Pesce found Magnoli on the edge of the box and, under pressure from a defender, the first-year Pioneer – a junior from Argentina – made a sharp turn and shot from outside the box into the lower left corner of the goal for the winner.
"Marco stole the show with the game-winner from a very tricky angle," Ssejjemba said of Magnoli's fourth goal of the season.
Ssejjemba also praised keeper
Gonzalo Santa, who in his second appearance of the season logged eight saves in his 106 minutes and 10 seconds between the pipes.
"Gonzalo had a man-of-the-match performance for us. He kept us in the game with important saves," the coach said.
Wayland was outshot, 17-12, including 9-6 shots on-goal. Romero provided half of WBU's on-target shots.
