Hobbs, NM – USW Men's Soccer hosted a tough Wayland Baptist University squad on Saturday afternoon. After a high-energy and demanding game, Wayland Baptists edged the Mustangs in this one, 4-2.
 
The first half saw the Pioneers dominating on both ends of the pitch. Wayland Baptist jumped right on USW from the get-go with a goal from Daniel Ruiz in the fifth minute of the first half. They would continue their push throughout the half until they could get on the board again with a Luis Fernandez goal in the 33^rd minute. A fast-paced offense and suffocating defense allowed WBU to lead 2-0 at the half, with many issues to address on the side of USW. "What a rollercoaster of a game we had here. It's a situation where we keep beating ourselves," said Coach Edgar Negrete. "We started slow, and we had no identity in the first half. We made some adjustments at halftime that gave us a lot of momentum, and we were able to tie the game up in the second half."
 
The Mustangs came out with a different kind of energy in the second half and showed that they would not go down without a fight. USW was able to get on the board in the 54^th minute when a corner kick led to a Jonathan Olivas header that found the back of the net. The Mustangs had found the spark they were looking for and had cut the lead in half. The energy continued, and Freshman Bruno Ramos was able to draw a penalty in the 71^st minute. Sophomore Angel Marban stepped up to the spot and buried it home, making it a tie game with just under twenty minutes to play. The comeback had been completed, and the Mustangs were looking to get on top and hopefully earn that first win of the season. Unfortunately, Wayland Baptist had other plans as they made it 3-2 with a Luis Toro goal in the 74^th minute. They would add another one quickly in the 78^th minute as Gabriel Paglioni found the back of the net for the Pioneers. That would be all she wrote as WBU would go on to win 4-2.  
 
It was a challenging game for the Mustangs, but not all bad, according to Coach Negrete. "We fought hard, and I'm proud of the boys to come back from a 2-0; it's always something hard to do. Unfortunately, the ball didn't go in for us going forward. Wayland had only two opportunities in the second half, and they took advantage of them, which caused us to lose the game. I tell the boys we are our own worst enemy. We give games away by starting too late and getting comfortable. We didn't get the result we were looking for, but we did see a lot of great things out of this team today. We just have to stay locked in for 90 minutes. We can't take plays off. We took plays off and got punished, but that's the game. We can't sit and dwell on it. We have to move forward and close out the regular season with a win. That's the goal, but we have another good opponent in two weeks, and we hope we can make our home fans proud and get the first win of the season."
 
USW Men's Soccer will be back home on September 19^th against Oklahoma Panhandle State and then again on September 22^nd for their RRAC Conference opener against Texas College. Continue to follow USW Athletics and USW Men's Soccer on all social media for scores and updates throughout the season.