CHICKASHA, Okla. –
Marco Magnoli scored twice and
Ilkkan Sahin recorded seven saves to power Wayland Baptist to a 2-0 Sooner Athletic Conference victory over Science & Arts of Oklahoma here Saturday.
The win keeps Wayland (7-3-2, 3-0-2 SAC) unbeaten in conference play and alone in third place behind Oklahoma-Panhandle State (9-1-1-, 5-0) and Mid-America Christian (12-0, 4-0). The Drovers fell to 6-5-3, 1-3-1.
Magnoli scored both of his goals within eight minutes of each other in the first half.
On the first, in the 21
st minute,
Ryan Naidoo took a hard shot that hit the near post and rebounded back to Magnoli, who tapped into an empty net
Then, in the 29
th minute, Naidoo made a diagonal run toward the end line on the right, beating the S&A offside trap. Naidoo crossed the ball into the box, picking out Magnoli who met the ball in similar style as the first goal, tapping the ball home from close range.
"I'm very proud of my team today," WBU coach
Robert Ssejjemba said. "I challenged the guys to want more. We invited pressure early on in the first half from some mistakes but recovered quickly and started playing
"We needed strong individual performances to get away with a win today, and everyone showed up."
The Pioneers were outshot, 13-12. All three of Magnoli's team-high three shots were on-goal.
It was Magnoli's third two-goal match of the season, and second straight. He now has a team-best eight goals.
Sahin's seven saves matched a season-high. He also logged seven in a 3-3, double-overtime tie against Texas Wesleyan on Sept. 28.
The Pioneers next face one of their toughest challenges of the season when they host third-ranked MACU at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Wayland then plays at SAGU before hosting two more tough teams – No. 25 Southwestern Christian and OPSU – to end the regular-season.
