WBU maintains momentum in final SAC tune-up

The Wayland Baptist men's soccer team closed out the pre-conference portion of its schedule with a 3-1 victory over Jarvis Christian on Thursday at Hilliard Field.
 
"It was important to close out the non-conference schedule with a good result," WBU coach Robert Ssejjemba said.
 
Antonio Menendez scored a goal and assisted team goals leader Samba Gnokane on another for Wayland (4-3), which also benefited from an own goal against Jarvis Christian (1-4-1).
 
Gnokane's breakaway goal – the fifth for the junior newcomer from Italy – came just 4 minutes, 23 seconds after kickoff. The Bulldogs tied it 14 minutes later when Obed Sepulveda took advantage of WBU keeper Kade Tomlinson's aggressiveness.
 
Wayland retook the lead in the 29^th minute when a crossed ball bounced off a Bulldog and bounced into the goal.
 
The Pioneers went up two when Menendez registered his third goal of the year on an unassisted shot in the 67^th minute.
 
WBU allowed just one shot by the Bulldogs while getting off 24 of their own, including 12 on-goal. Menendez was credited with seven shots (four on-goal) and Gnokane five (three on-goal), while Ryan Naidoo shot it four times.
 
"We have been working on some combinations and movement off the ball, so it was nice to see some of that come alive in a game situation," Ssejjemba said. "We should have scored more goals today, but the Jarvis goalkeeper came up big for his team."
 
Next for the Pioneers is a trip to Fort Worth on Tuesday to face Texas Wesleyan in their SAC debut. The Rams (5-2-1) are riding a 1-0 win over Texas A&M-Texarkana on Saturday.
 
"Our attention now switches to conference next week, and this result was important for our confidence and momentum," Ssejjemba said.