Magnoli's hat trick fuels WBU to 9-0 win

LUBBOCK – Yes, the Wayland Baptist men's soccer team won in impressive fashion on Tuesday, taking out Texas Wesleyan, 9-0, behind a three-goal performance by Marco Magnoli. But just as importantly to coach Robert Ssejjemba was how the Pioneers won.
 
"Today we were aiming for more than a win. This is the final stretch of our regular-season, so how we won was equally important...doing the simple things well, keeping a clean sheet and starting to get into the right habits on the pitch," Ssejjemba said after watching his Pioneers cruise to the Sooner Athletic Conference victory at Lubbock Christian University's soccer complex.
 
Magnoli, a junior from Bueno Aries, Argentina, scored back-to-back-to-back goals in the first half, after Santiago Hernandez and Stefano Pesce made it 2-0, to give Wayland a commanding 5-0 lead at halftime.
 
The Pioneers (8-4-1, 3-2-1 SAC) had the benefit of a strong southerly wind the first 45 minutes, so the Rams (2-8-1, 0-5) were looking forward to have the wind at their backs in the final 45.
 
Turns out it didn't matter which way the wind was blowing.
 
Magnoli gave way to Leonardo Amaral after intermission as he scored for the second straight game, getting back-to-back goals about 90 seconds apart. The first came when the ball got away from the Rams defense, allowing Amaral to score easily.
 
Wayland closed out the scoring with goals by Elton Tettey and, just before the final horn, by Gerardo Perdomo.
 
"The second half we wanted to have fresh legs on and rested some of the guys who have played a lot of minutes lately," Ssejjemba said.
 
Hernandez, after scoring the first goal, assisted on three others. Alessandro Felizzola ended with two assists while Ryan Naidoo, Jesus Chillon and Amaral all logged one.
 
Magnoli's hat trick gives him 11 goals on the season and within one of the team lead held by Hector Romero, who notched his dozen goals in just eight games but remains sidelined with injury.
 
Wayland, which outhustled the Rams all evening, got off a whopping 27 shots, 16 of which were on-goal. Amaral fired five shots while Naidoo and Hernandez got off four each. Magnoli, meanwhile, didn't shoot without scoring. Tettey and Perdomo also shot three times each.
 
Elias Zamora played in goal for Wayland and logged four saves, improving his record to 3-1.
 
The match was played at LCU due to ongoing turf issues at WBU's Hilliard Field. The Pioneers, sitting fourth in the SAC standings, previously played a home match at Lubbock Cooper High School and are set to play their next game – Saturday against Southwestern Assemblies of God University (1-6-2, 0-3-1) – at Berl Huffman Soccer Complex in north Lubbock. That match is set to start at 4 p.m.