This last weekend, Wayland Baptist University (WBU), attained the most improbable ending to their very exciting season, winning the 2017 NAIA National Soccer Championships, with a 1-0 double-overtime victory over Missouri Valley on Saturday night.,  at the Seacrest Soccer Complex  in Delray Beach, Florida.

The very talented WBU squad, led by their highly regarded coach, Cristhian Ospina, made their way through the entire event as the only unseeded team, upsetting four highly ranked teams to attain the coveted national title.

FUTSOC ENIGMA’s own Federico Ucar  from Montevideo, Uruguay – a world-class defender, enrolled as a freshman this season,  scored the “Golden Goal” header with 1 minute, 42 seconds left in the second OT to lift the 23rd-ranked Pioneers. This was the 7th goal for the outstanding defender this season.

This national championship comes after nearly a decade since WBU introduced men’s soccer in 2009. Coach Ospina has served as player for the duration of his collegiate experience and then, as Head Coach, since 2013.

WBU was one of only three unseeded teams (16 schools were seeded in the 32-team national championship bracket) to make it past the opening round and to the final site in Florida.

WBU swept the all-tournament superlative awards with our own freshman, Federico Ucar, being named Outstanding Offensive Player, junior goalkeeper Ziggy Camejo of the Bronx, N.Y., Outstanding Defensive Player, and junior midfielder Lochlan Reus of Gold Coast, Australia, the Most Valuable Player. Joining them on the all-tournament team was junior forward Ricardo Ramos of Portugal. Federico Ucar was also the recipient of the Freshman of the Year award and a member of the 2017 NAIA Nationals All-Tournament team.

WBU, a long-standing pipeline option of FUTSOC, for higher education and soccer ambitions of youth players,  ends the season on a 12-match unbeaten streak and a  superb 17-5-3 record.

2017 NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship All-Tournament Team

Nicolau Neto, GK, Columbia (Mo.)
Ziggy Camejo, GK, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
Lamine Conte, DEF, Mobile (Ala.)
Nikola Fimic, DEF, Oklahoma Wesleyan
Uros Ilic, DEF, Missouri Valley
Ross Clarke, DEF, Missouri Valley
Lochlan Reus, MID, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
Federico Ucar, MID, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
Joan Martorell, MID, Missouri Valley
Guillermo Chinchilla, MID, Marymount (Calif.)
Aleksandar Simovic, FWD, Oklahoma Wesleyan
Nedin Zukanovic, FWD, Marymount (Calif.)
Newton Henry, FWD, Mobile (Ala.)
Ricardo Ramos, FWD, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
NAIA Outstanding Offensive Player Award: Federico Ucar, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
NAIA Outstanding Defensive Player Award: Ziggy Camejo, Wayland Baptist (Texas)
NAIA Men’s Soccer Most Valuable Player: Lochlan Reus, Wayland Baptist (Texas)