The Wayland Baptist men exploded for three goals in the game's first 20 minutes and freshman goalkeeper John-Ramses Thomas helped to preserve the victory with his fourth shutout of the season in the Pioneer's 4-0 victory over Southern Nazarene on Thursday evening at Hilliard Field.
Freshman Jevaughn Vance got things going quickly for the Pioneers, breaking away for his seventh goal of the season just 1:19 into the game. A little over 11 minutes later, senior Cody McClary fought his way to the ball in the middle of a scrum in front of the net and redirected Christhian Ospina's direct kick past the SNU goalkeeper.
Ospina, a junior transfer from Miami, Fla., posted his second assist of the game at the 19:29 mark when he and teammate Colt Welch played a little two-on-two with a couple of Storm defenders down the middle of the field. The goal was the freshman Welch's second of the year and made it 3-0 at the intermission.
Sophomore David Ajibero came off the bench to score the first goal of his career 13 minutes into the second period after dribbling the ball in among several SNU players, making a terrific move just inside of the box, and launching a kick just past the diving keeper.
The Pioneers had the advantage in shots, 17-8. Seven of those shots made it on goal, and on the other end, Thomas had to make just two saves, both in the final period.
Wayland Head Coach Jamath Shoffner said that the success his team had early set the tone for the rest of the game.
"I'm really proud of the way our players responded tonight. We finished our chances early and our defense and goalkeeping were sharp, which allowed us to get the shutout."
The win is the fourth of the conference season for the Wayland men, who entered the 2011 season having never won a game against a SAC opponent. WBU is now all alone in fourth place in the standings at 4-3, one-half game in front of Southern Naz, which falls to 3-3 and 4-9 overall.
The Pioneers, 7-6-2 on the year, take on Oklahoma City University (4-5-3, 2-3-1) on Saturday in their final home game of the regular season. That contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.