Pioneers pull out post-season win over Oklahoma City with 11 seconds left

Twenty-four hours after Wayland Baptist soccer fans were treated to one of the most dramatic matches ever at Hilliard Field as the Pioneer men went to an 18-shot shootout with Texas Wesleyan, the Pioneer women came up with a doozy of their own.
 
Bianca Roman, off a midfield header pass from Chloe Marmitt, scored with 11 seconds left in the second overtime to lift Wayland to a 1-0 victory over Oklahoma City University in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Saturday night.
 
"I'm really happy for the team. They gave everything they had tonight," Wayland coach Shiloh Posey said. "As tired as they were, I told them sometimes that's the kind of effort it takes to accomplish what you want to accomplish."
 
The win sends third-seeded Wayland (11-4-1) into the semifinals against second-seeded Science & Arts of Oklahoma (15-4), which took out Texas Wesleyan in its first-round match, 6-2. The Pioneers will be in Chickasha on Tuesday to face the Drovers, who are ranked the equivalent of 26^th in the NAIA, at a time to be determined. Wayland will be looking to avenge a 6-0 loss to S&A when they met in Oklahoma on Oct. 16.
 
In what was just their third home post-season match, the win marked Wayland's fourth playoff win, fifth post-season advancement, and fourth time in program history that Posey's team advanced into the conference tourney semifinals. With a win Tuesday they'd make their second final in three seasons.
 
In the semifinal on the other side of the bracket, top-seeded, sixth-ranked John Brown (15-1), which squeaked past Southwestern Christian 1-0, will take on Mid-America Christian (10-6), which also won 1-0 over Central Christian. The semifinal winners advance to the final on Nov. 12.
 
Saturday's win was just the fourth in 21 outings for Wayland over OCU (9-8), with two of those victories coming this season. Prior to the Pioneers' 2-1 win over the Stars on Oct. 9 at Hilliard, the Pioneers were just 2-17 against OCU.

"Their style of play is very direct. They use their size and speed very well," Posey said. "OCU is a quality program."
 
It was Wayland, though, that was celebrating when all was said and done Saturday night.
 
Scoring chances were few and far between for both teams, with Wayland getting off just eight shots all night, and only one on-goal prior to Roman's game-winner. The Stars managed nine shots, three on-goal.
 
One of the best chances came early when Roman chipped a ball high that bounced off the post 7½ minutes into the match.
 
Wayland's next-best opportunity came some 103 minutes later. With it appearing the match would be decided by a penalty shootout, Marmitt toed a ball into OCU's third. A Star headed it back toward midfield, but Marmitt also put a head on it and it fell at the feet of Roman as she worked her way around a defender.
 
Wayland's 5-foot senior – with a team-best 12 goals – controlled the ball out of the air and followed it up the field just inside left side of the box. As the OCU keeper approached and slid to block the kick, Roman's left-footed shot from 17 feet appeared to slide off the hands of keeper Josie Knox and into the back of the net for the dramatic golden goal, setting off a wild celebration by the Pioneers and their fans.
 
"It was like it happened in slow-motion," Posey said.
 
The coach said one of the Pioneer players was unexpectedly unable to play in the match, and the coach said he overhead his team tell her that "they would win it for her so she's get to play one more time. I guess that was kind of a prophecy."
 
Posey credited the home fans for fueling his team.
 
"I can't say enough about the crowd. They were right in it with us and supported us all night. I know the girls fed off of that."
 
Wayland's first-ever playoff win came in 2013 over Science & Arts. They won again in the SAC Tourney first round of Mid-America Christian, then in 2019 Wayland advanced on PKs after tying No. 13 John Brown then beat Texas Wesleyan to move into their only final where they lost to No. 9 Science & Arts.
 
Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament

At Campus Sites
Matches Hosted by Higher Seeds
SATURDAY, NOV. 6
Quarterfinals
Game 1	No. 8 Southwestern Christian (6-10) at No. 1 John Brown (14-1)	1 p.m.
Game 2	No. 7 Texas Wesleyan (8-6-2) at No. 2 Science & Arts (14-4)	8 p.m.
Game 3	No. 6 Oklahoma City (9-7) at No. 3 Wayland Baptist (10-4-1)	7 p.m.
Game 4	No. 5 Central Christian (13-4-1) at No. 4 Mid-America Christian (9-6)	7 p.m.
TUESDAY, NOV. 9
Semifinals
Game 5	No. 1 John Brown (15-1) vs. No. 4 Mid-America Christian (10-6)	TBA
Game 6	No. 2 Science & Arts (15-4) vs. No. 3 Wayland Baptist (11-4-1)	TBA
FRIDAY, NOV. 12
Championship
Game 7	Semifinal winners	TBA