PLAINVIEW, Texas -- The John Brown men's soccer team built leads of 1-0 and 2-1, but Wayland Baptist (Texas) responded each time and scored with five minutes left in extra time to take a 4-3 double-overtime win on Saturday at J.V. Hilliard Field.
The loss snaps John Brown's nine-match unbeaten streak and the Pioneers (10-3-2, 6-0-1 SAC) take over sole possession atop the Sooner Athletic Conference standings. The Golden Eagles' (10-2-2, 5-1-1 SAC) hopes of a regular season title aren't over, however, as Wayland Baptist has two difficult road matches next week, including traveling to Oklahoma City and Southwestern Christian.
John Brown will hope to sweep Texas Wesleyan and Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) next week, both at Alumni Field, and look to City and Southwestern Christian to provide assistance as JBU looks to clinch its first-ever regular season Sooner Athletic title in program history.
Wayland's Yago Xavier scored the game-winner in the 105th minute when his header popped over senior Adam Holt inside the six-yard box. It was his third goal of the season.
"We didn't match Wayland's intensity today, and we suffered the result we deserved," head coach Scott Marksberry said. "They took us out of our game and caused us to make mental mistakes that are not characteristic of our team. We will have to be mentally tougher than we were today if we are going to have success in big games."
The Golden Eagles scored first in the 21st minute when sophomore Kelvin Omondi struck for his 12th of the season. Junior Steve Teshima, who had two assists on the afternoon, started the play by getting a pass through to sophomore Ryan Williams in the midfield, who continued the ball through the Pioneer back line to Omondi. Facing WBU keeper Luke Holt in a one-on-one, Omondi slipped a shot through Holt's legs for an early 1-0 advantage.
The first half, which the teams both attempted just three shots, changed drastically as the Pioneers out-shot John Brown 11-4 in the second stanza.
Ezekiel Amestoy notched his fifth of the season in the 54th minute, but JBU responded.
Eleven minutes later, sophomore Conner Haney delivered his 10th of the year when his one-touch blast from sophomore Santiago Vanegas sizzled into the bottom left corner of the goal, re-establishing the visitors' one-goal lead. Unfortunately, for JBU, Wayland netted two goals in response.
Just 65 seconds later, Taval Whitaker's free kick in the box knotted the score at two after Adam Holt was whistled for having touched the ball twice in a row with his hands. Ten minutes later to the second, Amestory posted his second of the game when he headed in a long cross from Guillermo Deal.
With time winding down, the Golden Eagles reached deep and generated a beautiful goal from the back line in the 80th minute. Senior Hazeley Pyle started the attack with a long, high pass to the deep right flank. Teshima tracked down the ball and crossed a perfect pass to sophomore Giovani Bejarano, who was left unmarked at the far left post. In a one-on-one with Luke Holt, Bejarano blasted a shot to the far right side of the net, knotting the score for the third time in the contest.
The Golden Eagles also suffered its most lopsided shooting performance of the year as the Pioneers attempted 18, holding the high-powered JBU offense (18.5 shots per game) to just eight over 105 minutes of play.
JBU will look to finish the season with a pair of wins next week, starting with Texas Wesleyan at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Sports on 10/26/2016