SOC Battles in 2-1 Loss to Texas

Friday, October 18

Waco, TX

7 p.m.

Baylor

6-5-3, 2-3-0

Texas

9-6-0, 4-2-0

Texas

Baylor

Photo by: Baylor Photography

SOC Battles in 2-1 Loss to Texas

10/18/2019 10:01:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score BOX SCORE

Sarah Norman nets the first goal of her career vs. the Longhorns

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            When you come back from a 2-0 deficit against the second-ranked team in the country, anything is possible.
            But this time, Baylor soccer (6-5-3, 2-3-0) couldn't dig out of an early hole and fell to the Texas Longhorns, 2-1, Friday night before a season-high crowd of 1,042 at Betty Lou Mays Field.
            "I think we got ourselves in a hole in the first half. We weren't good enough in the first half," Baylor coach Paul Jobson said. "To be quite honest, that's on me as a head coach. We've got to be ready to play. I take full responsibility for that. Second half, I thought we kind of played our way into it and had a great end of the second half. Just too little, too late, honestly, but that's on me. We weren't ready to play."
            The Longhorns (9-6-0, 4-2-0), who moved within a point of league-leading Oklahoma State, got on the board in the 30^th minute when Cameron Brooks got past defender Danielle Hayden and crossed the ball into Haley Berg for her seventh goal of the year.
            Texas out-shot Baylor, 8-2, in the first half and took the 1-0 lead into the break.
            "We were hyping up the game a lot, and we just didn't show up," junior defender Sarah Norman said. "We've been coming out really good the past couple games, and I think we thought it would get handed to us. That's something we can learn from and move on forward to the TCU game."
            Barely three minutes into the second half, the defense had another lapse, with Julia Grosso finding Brooks open in front of the goal for a 2-0 lead.
            Less than a minute later, freshman Elizabeth Kooiman nearly came up with the answer on a header, but UT goalkeeper Savannah Madden dove to her left and tipped it away for one of her seven second-half saves.
            That triggered an aggressive attack by the Bears that produced 11 shots in the second half, including eight on goal.
             "That's something that's different about this team," Norman said. "A lot of teams, when they get scored on twice, especially the second goal in the second half, they kind of give up like the game's over. But, this team has always been resilient with getting back and never giving up, even if we're two down. You saw in the USC game, we were down 2-0 against the No. 2 team and we were still able to come back and keep fighting throughout the whole game. That's what makes this team special."
            Baylor broke through in the 57^th minute, when Norman battled through a scrum in front of the goal and knocked in her first career goal to cut the deficit to 2-1.
            "They always say the 2-0 lead in soccer is the most dangerous lead in the game, and it really was," Jobson said. "They were teetering, and we knew we needed something. The great thing about this team is we've had just a ton of different people step up
            Norman said senior forward Raegan Padgett "blocked the keeper's view, and I was lucky enough to get a touch on it, keep it down and get it into the goal."
            "This was the first year when they were finally like, 'Oh, OK, you can finally go in on the corner (kicks),''' Norman said. "I was excited and wanted to show them, 'OK, keep letting me go in.' I'll keep scoring, hopefully."
            Baylor created several scoring opportunities in the last 30 minutes, including two on goal by Eva Mitchell, but couldn't get the equalizer in falling to the Longhorns for the third year in a row.
            Tied for seventh in the Big 12 with West Virginia, Baylor will travel to face TCU (9-4-1, 3-1-1) at 7 p.m. Sunday in Fort Worth. The Bears had a 1-0 halftime lead on the Horned Frogs last week in a game that was canceled due to lightning.
            "The thing about this league is you're never really out of it until the end," Jobson said. "No matter what, there is always something to play for."

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor dropped a 2-1 contest to Texas Friday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.

Texas took the lead in the 30^th minute off a goal by Haley Berg before a score by Cameron Brooks in the 48^th minute put the Longhorns up 2-0. That only increased the fight in the Bears as they continued to battle throughout the second half.

After recording only two shots with none on goal in the opening half, Baylor was more aggressive in the second half as it outshot Texas 11-4 with eight of those shot attempts on goal.

The Bears got on the board in the 57^th minute when Sarah Norman netted the first goal of her career. Lined up inside the box on a corner kick, the junior fielded a rebound off a blocked shot by Camryn Wendlandt and booted it into the top right corner of the net for the goal.

Shortly before Norman's goal, Baylor threatened with two great looks at the net twice. Elizabeth Kooiman shot one from the left corner of the box toward the right side of the net that the outstretched hand of Texas keeper Savannah Madden was able to swipe away. Then, Maddie Algya dialed one up to the top of the net, but Madden leapt at the right time to punch it out of play. That shot set up the corner that Norman scored off of.

HIGHLIGHTS

Sarah Norman netted her first career goal in the 57^th minute. The junior collected the rebound off a corner kick and booted a shot into the upper right corner of the net. Norman is the second Baylor defender to net a goal this season.
After getting outshot in the first half, 8-2, Baylor turned things around in the second half to finish with an overall 13-12 advantage in shots against the Longhorns.
Camryn Wendlandt made her first start since she went down with an injury against Arkansas on Sept. 12.

STAT OF THE GAME
1,042 – Number of fans at Friday night's contest against Texas. It marks a season high and is the second-highest attendance total in the last four years.

TOP QUOTE
Paul Jobson on the match…
"I think we got ourselves in a hole in the first half. We weren't good enough in the first half. And to be quite honest, that's on me as the head coach. We've got to be ready to play. So, I take full responsibility for that. Second half, I thought we kind of played our way into it and had a great end of the second half. Just too little, too late, honestly, but that's on me."

UP NEXT
Baylor travels to Fort Worth to face TCU at 7 p.m. on Sunday.

www.BaylorBears.com