Sept. 12, 2001
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Lady'Back Invitational * Hosted by Arkansas * Fayetteville, Ark.
vs. SW Missouri State * Friday, Sept. 14 * 1 p.m.
at Arkansas * Sunday, Sept. 16 * 2 p.m. CT
Having split their first two weekend series of the year, the Baylor soccer team heads now to Arkansas for the Lady'Back Invitational. The Bears face Southwest Missouri State Friday at 1 p.m., then battle host Arkansas Sunday at 2 p.m. Both games are to be played in Fayetteville, Ark. at Lady'Back Field.
Southwest Missouri State enters the tournament undefeated at 3-0-1. Eighteen of 22 letterwinners returned from a year ago, when the Lions went 12-11-1 (4-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference). Sophomore forward Debbie Stark leads SWMS with five points (2 G, 1 A). Sophomore Mary Litvan also has two goals for the Lions. Freshman Shannon McBride, junior Mandy Fisher and sophomore Katie DeCarlo each have two assists.
Baylor defeated SMS in the two teams' only previous meeting. The Bears blanked the Lions 3-0 in 1996 in a game played at Texas Tech.
Arkansas, host of the weekend's action, comes into the weekend at with a 1-2 record. The Lady'Backs opened the season with a 6-1 win over Texas Tech, then lost 2-0 at San Diego and 4-1 at Pepperdine. Arkansas faces SMS Saturday afternoon before playing Baylor on Sunday.
Sophomore Julie Williford leads the Lady'Backs with five goals and 11 points. Four of those goals came in Arkansas' season opener as Williford set a school single game record with nine points. Senior Holly Collins has a team-high two assists.
Baylor and Arkansas battled through double overtime to a 1-1 tie last season in the first game of the Baylor Tournament. Molly Cameron provided the Bears' lone score in the game, Crystal Test recorded the Lady'Backs goal.
Last Time Out
The Bears split their weekend series for the second weekend in a row. Freshman April Robertson's first two collegiate goals came Friday night and powered Baylor to a 2-1 win over Loyola Marymount. The game-winning goal broke a 1-1 tie with just four minutes left in the game.
Sunday afternoon, San Diego overcame an early 2-0 Baylor lead and topped the Bears 3-2 in overtime. USD's Stephanie Barnier -- sister of Baylor's Rachel Barnier -- scored the winning goal 55 seconds into overtime. Robertson and Ginny Rosario-Tull provided the scoring for Baylor.
Head Coach Nick Cowell
Head coach Nick Cowell, now in his third year at the helm of the Baylor soccer team, has steadily built a program that consistently rates as one of the best in the Big 12 Conference. In 2001, his challenge is take things one step further, the Bears are shooting for a spot in the NCAA field of 48, from whence they can challenge for the national title.
In Cowell's first year at Baylor, the team finished 14-7-1 overall and placed fourth in the conference with a 6-3-1 mark. Last season, the Bears again finshed fourth in the Big 12 and compiled an overall record of 10-6-3. Under Cowell, the team has made one NCAA appearance (1999) and barely missed out on another (2000).
Prior to coming to Baylor, Cowell spent eight years as head coach at Trinity University in San Antonio. During that time, he led his team to seven straight conference titles, including 49-straight conference victories and six trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
At Trinity, Cowell's success resulted in him being named the SCAC Coach of the Year five times. In 1992, he garnered Regional Coach of the Year honors. Prior to his work at Trinity, Cowell was at The College of Wooster where he had a 22-11-4 record in two seasons. He led the Lady Scots to the North Coast Athletic Conference title in 1990. Following that season he was named the NCAC and Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association Coach of the Year.
Cowell began the 2001 season ranked 24th in career wins among active coaches at four-year colleges, with a career record of 163-54-16.
Working Their Way Up The Charts
Senior co-captains Rachel Kacsmaryk and Alyson Miles each rank among the team's all-time leaders in several statistical categories.
The two seniors are tied for sixth in career points (24) and career goals (8). Kacsmaryk also ranks sixth in career game-winning assists (3), while Miles is tied for seventh in career game-winning assists (2) and is fifth in consecutive games played (64).
Injury Trouble
Baylor lost goalkeeper Mel Pannell for at least four weeks when the freshman suffered a shoulder injury in the Bears' season opener Aug. 31.
Sophomore Emily Koch, who had seen no action of any sort all fall due to her own injury, was cleared for play the next day and started Sept. 2. She recorded her first collegiate shutout in that game despite playing with a bad back.
Home is Where the Wins Are
Since the program's inception in 1996, the Bears are a sparkling 36-8-4 at home. Four of those losses came in 1999, in the team's other five seasons, Baylor has not lost more than one game a year at home.
Cowell Adds Pair of New Assistant Coaches
The 2001 season brings two new assistant coaches to the Baylor fold. Assistant coach Rj. Anderson and graduate assistant coach Becca Lief joined the Bears prior to the season, each bringing new talents to the program.
Anderson comes to Baylor from the University of Toledo, where he was women's head soccer coach from 1995-2000. Anderson brings over 35 years of soccer experience as a player, coach and official at both the national and international level.
Lief joins the Baylor staff from nearby SMU, where she started in goal for two seasons for the Mustangs. As goalkeeper coach, Lief's duties will focus on helping the Bears' stable of goalies prepare for the upcoming season.
Crawley Named Preseason All-Big 12
Junior defender Tamura Crawley was named to the 2001 All-Big 12 Soccer Preseason Team by the league's coaches. Crawley earned second-team all-conference honors in 2000 after being named to the Big 12's first team in 1999. Crawley is also a two-time all-region selection, as named by Soccer Buzz magazine. She was named to the preseason all-conference team last season, as well.
2001 Recruiting Class Brings Honors for Bears
The Baylor soccer team's 2001 recruiting class ranked eighth regionally and 35th in the nation, according to Soccer Buzz magazine.
Since head coach Nick Cowell's arrival, the Bears have ranked among the nation's best at recruiting. In 1999, Baylor did not receive national or regional recognition, in 2000, the team improved to 26th in the nation and fifth in the region. The 2001 season marks the Bears' second straight season among the nation's elite.
Baylor Picked Sixth in Big 12 in Preseason Poll
In a poll of the league's coaches, Baylor was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 Conference. Defending national champion Nebraska is the preseason favorite to win the Big 12, followed by Texas A&M, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma (tied for fourth) and Baylor. Kansas, Colorado, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State round out the bottom half of the league.
The Bears finished the 2000 season in fourth place in the Big 12. Baylor lost to third-ranked Nebraska in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament and narrowly missed the program's third-straight selection to the NCAA Tournament.
Bears Ranked Among Region's and Nation's Best Yet Again
Soccer Buzz magazine ranked Baylor eighth in the Central Region in its preseason rankings, and the NSCAA placed the Bears fifth in the region Sept. 3. Baylor finished 2000 third in the region and receiving votes in the national polls.
The Bears have received votes in the national polls each week thus far this season.
Bears in the Pros
Three athletes with Baylor connections participated in the inaugural season of the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the world's premier women's professional soccer league. Goalkeeper Dawn Greathouse, an all-American for Baylor in 1998, spent the 2000 season with the Washington Freedom, while fellow all-American Courtney Saunders is a member of the Philadelphia Charge. Former assistant coach Rebecca Hornbacher joined the Boston Breakers.
Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field
The 2001 season marks the third year for the Bears at the newly renamed Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field. The former Baylor Soccer Stadium was renamed during the 2000 season in honor of the late Betty Lou Mays of Amarillo, Texas. Mrs. Mays was the wife of Troy Mays, a 1945 graduate of Baylor, the two were longtime supporters of Baylor athletics.
Exhibition Season
In April, the Baylor soccer team was one of six schools to face the Mexico Women's National Team as it toured the United States. The Bears beat Mexico 3-1 at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field in front of 1,810 fans, a school record.
Whitney Barrett scored in the 15th minute, assisted by Ryan Lee, to put Baylor up 1-0. The Bears scored again 12 minutes later when Candace Reilly recorded Baylor's second goal of the night. After Mexico cut the lead to 2-1 six minutes into the second half, Emily Fukuchi powered the ball into the net from 60 feet out to make the final score Baylor 3, Mexico 1.
Baylor kicked off the fall with a preseason scrimmage against SMU, blanking the Mustangs 3-0 in Waco on Aug. 24. The Bears' large freshman class shone brightly in the exhibition, as two of Baylor's three goals were scored and assisted on by freshmen. Ginny Rosario-Tull, Candace Reilly and Rachel Barnier each pushed across goals, while Kristin Ruef and Sarah Dearing contributed assists. Freshman goalie Mel Pannell recorded seven saves in picking up the shutout.
