Gonzalez, Golden Eagles Win for Second Time at Wayland, Earn Berth to Semifinals
PLAINVIEW, Texas (November 8, 2014) -- For the second time in four weeks, senior midfielder Martin Gonzalez placed the Golden Eagles on his back at Wayland Baptist (Texas), this time netting the game-winner in the 85th minute, sending sixth-seeded John Brown to a 2-1 win over the third-seeded Pioneers tonight in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals.
The tournament win is JBU’s first since the semifinals in 2012, when it knocked off Oklahoma City in the tournament semifinals by a 2-0 score at Alumni Field. The Golden Eagles advance to take on second-seeded Science & Arts (Okla.) on Tuesday (Nov. 11) at 2 p.m. The Drovers dispatched seventh-seeded Oklahoma Baptist this afternoon easily by a 5-0 score.
Back on Oct. 18, Gonzalez ripped the match-clinching tally in the 96th minute in Plainview, breaking JBU’s then-two-game slide.
Tonight, Gonzalez scored his fifth and sixth goals of the season and recorded his fourth game-winner of the season in the 85th minute.
“I was proud of going away to one of the toughest places to play and pulling out a quality win,” Gonzalez admitted after the match. “I feel great contributing to the ultimate goal of this team.”
David Neuberth scored his ninth goal of the season for WBU off a cross from Hakeem Milson in the 21st minute. Neuberth accepted the cross and head the ball past John Brown freshman goalkeeper Adam Holt for a 1-0 Pioneer lead.
Gonzalez wouldn’t allow JBU to enter the intermission down a goal as the senior unleashed a 25-yard blast to the top-right corner of the goal in the 41st minute. The play began when Gonzalez and junior midfielder Eli Simonsen teamed up on a perfect give-and-go play. Simonsen collected his 10th assist of the season.
Wayland out-shot the Golden Eagles 6-4 in the first half, but JBU held a 2-0 advantage in corner kicks. Holt corralled a save in the first period while Pioneer keeper John-Ramses Thomas blocked attempts from sophomore striker Marco Cardona and senior forward Ryan Duncan.
The shot attempts narrowed slightly in the second half with Baptist holding a narrow 5-4 margin. John Brown attempted three shots on goal throughout the majority of the half while Holt recorded a pair of saves on header attempts from Neuberth.
Finally, in the 85th minute, Gonzalez made the Pioneer defense pay when a failed kick attempt found Gonzalez, who ripped a shot that found both the crossbar and post before landing behind Ramses.
WBU scrambled for an equalizer, but could only manage one shot attempt over the final five minutes as the visitors held on for its second 2-1 win over Baptist in 2014.
Gonzalez led all Golden Eagles with four shots on goal while Simonsen, Duncan, Cardona and sophomore defender Daniel Marulanda each had a shot attempt in the win. Neuberth posted a match-high five shot attempts in the loss as the hosts out-shot the Golden Eagles 11-8 on the evening.
"It was a tough game tonight," said head coach Scott Marksberry, who picked up his first tournament victory at the helm of the men's squad. "Winning at Wayland is not easy and doing it twice in a season takes a lot of resolve. It wasn't very pretty tonight, but our guys showed great heart and great determination.
"Martin hit a couple of fantastic bombs. Neuberth gave us fits early, but I thought we made some nice adjustments to deal with him. In the end, a couple of bounces went our way, and we showed enough grit to get a positive result."
