FORT WORTH – The Texas Wesleyan men's soccer team (1-3-1) dropped a 4-2 slug fest with Wayland Baptist (4-0) in non-conference action at Polytechnic High School on Friday.
 
With Martin Field fully soaked after the early morning storms this morning, the game was moved a hop, skip and a jump to the Poly High soccer field. It was a fairly cold night with annoying winds that gusted sporadically throughout the contest.
 
The Rams were able to score a pair of crafty goals in the second half, but the team missed on two good opportunities in the first that could have changed the game.  
 
The Pioneers came out swinging, with Marco Magnoli scoring in the third minute off of a deflection from blocked shot for an early goal.
 
This helped to set an aggressive tone for the rest of the match, and the two teams seemed to slowly ramp up the intensity the rest of the way.
 
One of the best chances for the Rams to equalize in the first half came near the midway point. Juan Rey sent an excellent through pass onto the foot of Marko Jovanovic who tried to snake the ball into the lower corner, but just wide.
 
Later in the half, Jovanovic would hook up with Rylan Sibley for a one-on-one with Wayland goalkeeper Elias Zamora, but Sibley was unable to connect.  
 
Wayland scored in the 35th minute and took a comfortable lead into half time.
 
The Rams took advantage of a Wayland foul in the 54th minute to break the shutout. A slew of Pioneer fouls led to the Rams with possession and a set piece just inside Wayland territory. James Kerr found the head of Mateus Macedo, who put the ball in the top left corner the make it a 2-1 game.
 
Jovanovic found Juan Rey in the 81st minute, with Rey sending a rocket into the net from outside the 18. Unfortunately, this was sandwiched between two more Pioneer goals and Wayland outpaced the Rams.
 
The field at Poly is smaller and plays faster the Martin Field, which created a wildly entertaining second half as each team looked dangerous in the attack at times.
 
The shots were 16-7 in favor of Wayland, and Bastian Blumenberg posted five saves as the Pioneers kept the Ram net minder busy.
 
The Rams will host SAGU at Martin Field (weather permitting) next Friday, Oct. 30 at 7 p.m. Watch the game from your favorite device by going to ramsports.net/live.