Women's Soccer Fights to Draw in Big 12 Opener

Friday, September 28

Waco, Texas

7:00 PM

Baylor

Kansas

Women's Soccer Fights to Draw in Big 12 Opener

9/28/2007 12:00:00 AM | Soccer

Sept. 28, 2007

Final Stats

Baylor women's soccer opened Big 12 Conference action with a 2-2 tie against the Kansas Jayhawks on Friday at Betty Lou May Field to keep push its home unbeaten streak to five.

Senior Megan Sherrell put Baylor on the board first. After Kansas goalkeeper Coleen Quinn gathered the ball, an attempted clear reflected off the side of Lotto Smith and into Sherrell's possession. With Quinn out in the box, Sherrell lifted one over Quinn's head and bounced it into the back of the net to give the Bears a 1-0 lead in the game's fourth minute.

"Sherrell continued to be the center of our offensive production," head coach George Van Linder said. "It was good to see her get another goal, but we would have liked to a win."

The Jayhawks' Rachel Morris responded 11 minutes later. With Jessica Bush controlling the ball on the right side of the field, Morris sprinted down the center and took Bush's pass to even the score.

Baylor climbed back ahead as play resumed in the second half with Lotto Smith pocketing her fifth goal of the season in the 52nd minute of play.

Smith's came off of Rose Zapata's fourth corner kick of the match.

The lead was again short-lived for the Bears, as Kansas' Shannon McCabe fired a shot that deflected off of Baylor goalkeeper Ashley Noah and into the net.

"There are some ties that feel like wins and others that feel like losses," Van Linder said. "I think our girls feel that tonight's tie was more of a loss and that's a good thing. It tells me that they expect more out of themselves and hopefully they will come back out on Sunday some extra intensity."

Noah stopped six shots in the contest including five in the two extra frames to move her and the team's record to 6-2-2 on the season. Her biggest save of the night came with six seconds left on the clock when Kansas took a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. Noah deflected the ball off to her left to end the game.

The Bears will next be in action as they host Missouri (7-2-0) on Sunday at Betty Lou Mays Field beginning at 1:00 p.m. All the action can be heard live on BaylorBears.com with Heath Nielsen and Justin Stottlemyre beginning 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

NOTES: The tie marks the first time since the 1999 season that Baylor has not lost a Big 12 opener and keeps the Bears unbeaten at Betty Lou Mays Field this season.

In all, five yellow cards were issued in the contest, including one each to Baylor's Sherrell, Laura Brock and Nicky Smith.

Sherrell has 19 points (6g, 7a) on the season to lead Baylor. Her 19 points are the most since Tiffany Boshers matched that amount in 2004.

Baylor's first goal of the game was the first time the Bears have scored against Kansas since a 2-1 win on Oct. 4, 2002.

With six more saves in the match against Kansas, Ashley Noah is just 19 saves away from breaking the Big 12 Conference and Baylor record for most saves in a career.