Soccer men & women dominate Texas Wesleyan

When the Wayland Baptist men's and women's soccer teams play back-to-back matches, it's almost always the women who take the pitch first, followed by the guys.
 
Against Texas Wesleyan on Saturday at Hilliard Field, the Pioneers switched things up and let the men go first while the women took the nightcap. Based on how things went for Wayland, coaches Shiloh Posey and Robert Ssejjemba may decide to make the men-first, women-second concept permanent.
 
After the WBU men rolled to a 3-1 victory over the Rams, the WBU women posted their most lopsided victory of the season, 4-0.
 
"We discussed the importance of this game and we were aware that Texas Wesleyan was in good form this season," Ssejjemba said.
 
The triumphs for Wayland were big in the Sooner Athletic Conference standings as the Pioneers moved ahead of TXWES in both the men's and women's slates. On the men's side, the Pioneers (6-6-2, 3-3-1 SAC) moved into sixth place while the Rams (10-5, 3-4) dropped to seventh, while on the women's side Wayland (4-5-4, 3-2-2 SAC) surged into fourth place with their third straight win, while the Lady Rams (5-9, 3-4) slipped to sixth.
 
In the men's match, Wayland got goals from Bryan Alfaro, Santiago Hernandez and Daniel Ruiz, with assists by Vitor Matos, Owen Thomas and a dual assist from Hernandez and Harry Garbutt.
 
"We needed to get a goal early and control the different moments in the game. I think the guys executed well in the final third and did a good job defending as a team," Ssejjemba said.
 
Alfaro scored his team-leading seventh goal on a shot from 35 yards out just 11:08 into the match, but the Rams matched it in the 27^th minute. It stayed deadlocked until the 73^rd minute when Hernandez scored his second goal. Then Hernandez and Garbutt combined to get the ball to Ruiz in the corner of the goalie box where Ruiz delivered his fifth goal.
 
The Rams actually took five more shots than Wayland, 20-to-15, but the Pioneers made more of theirs count. Ruiz fired seven shots, three of which were on-goal. Ryan Naidoo made three scoring attempts.
 
It was the second straight victory for Wayland, which has lost just once over its last five outings.
 
The Pioneers will be in action at The Bowl for the last time during the regular-season when they host fifth-place Science & Arts of Oklahoma (8-4-3, 3-2-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. Fifteen seniors will be recognized before the match. Wayland wraps up the regular-season next Saturday in Bethany, Okla., against second-place Southwestern Christian (6-2-4, 4-0-3).
 
The win by the WBU men set the stage for the Pioneer women, who scored more than two goals in a game for the first time all season.  Wayland's four goals are the most for the Pioneers since a 9-0 victory over Bacone (Okla.) on Sept. 7 last season and the most in a SAC match since a 5-3 victory over SAGU on Oct. 8, 2019.
 
Ajacia Mojica got the fun started with her third goal of the season in the 32^nd minute, assisted by Lindsey Martinez. The Pioneers started laying it on early in the second half. First, Chloe Marmitt – after her throw-in came back to her – boomed a shot from 35 yards over the TXWES keeper's head five minutes after halftime.
 
Ten minutes later, Toby McCoy poked in her third goal following a corner by Natalie Terry Weg wound up in a mass of players right in front of the goal. Just over four minutes after that, the Pioneers were celebrating another goal by McCoy, this one assisted by Ajacia Mojica.
 
Like in the men's match, Wayland was outshot, 12-to-10, but only two of the Rams' attempts were on-goal compared to seven for the Pioneers. McCoy was credited with four shots, including two on-goal along with Mojica and Marmitt.
 
Wayland hadn't won back-to-back games this season until the Pioneers followed a 2-1 win over Central Christian in Kansas with a 1-0 victory over SAGU on Tuesday. Now they've won three in a row and will be looking to make it four Tuesday when they host Science & Arts of Oklahoma beginning at 4 p.m. in WBU's final regular-season home match. It will be Senior Day with five Pioneer seniors honored before kickoff.
 
A win over USAO would be Wayland's most impressive yet since the first-place Drovers (12-1-1, 7-0) are ranked No. 21. USAO hasn't lost since a season-opening 5-0 setback to sixth-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan in the season-opener. The Drovers have posted shutouts in five of their last six matches, including a 2-0 win over Southwestern Christian on Saturday.
 
Wayland concludes the regular-season next Saturday in Bethany, Okla., against eighth-place Southwestern Christian (3-6-4, 1-4-2).