Baylor
Texas
SOC Takes on Texas in Final Road Tilt of 2020
10/29/2020 11:35:00 AM | Soccer
Bears look for first win in Austin since 2015
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BAYLOR BEARS (2-2-3) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Paul Jobson (Presbyterian, 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (2-2-3) at TEXAS (3-4) Oct. 30, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT Austin, Texas • Mike A. Myers Stadium Live Stats: baylorstats.com WATCH: Longhorn Network Baylor Social Media:    |
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TEXAS LONGHORNS (3-4-0) Location: Austin, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Angela Kelly (North Carolina, 1994) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Meredith Pratt
Coming off a 4-0 win over Kansas State, the Baylor soccer team (2-2-3) will face Texas (3-4-0) at 7 p.m. Friday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.
With the two teams tied for fifth with nine points apiece, Friday's match will be pivotal in jockeying for positioning in the final Big 12 standings.
Baylor coach Paul Jobson said his team's approach will be business as usual, focusing on the game at hand.
"What we tell the team, week-in and week-out, is we've just got to be who we are and let the other things kind of fall where they may," Jobson said.
After the barrage of scoreless draws at the beginning of the season, Jobson said he is starting to see the players find their groove on the offensive end.
"I think we're trending in the right direction," he said, "and the young players and the chemistry and all those things are really starting to come together at a really important time for us. So, that's kind of what we've been focusing on this week is just shoring up some little details that maybe can help us have an advantage on the road (Friday)."
Texas, which suffered a 2-0 loss at Oklahoma State last week, came into Waco a year ago and beat the Bears, 2-1, when Sarah Norman scored the Bears' only goal and the only goal of her career.
"It's probably one of the best feelings I've had in soccer," said Norman, a senior defender.
As part of the backline, Norman said she has put her focus more into getting shutouts this season.
"We're really motivated. Every day in practice, we yell, 'No Goal Patrol,''' she said. "We have two freshmen on our backline in pretty significant roles. So, I think this year, it means a lot, just because you have two veterans – Kaylee (Ables) and I – and then two freshmen."
At the same time, Norman says she has enjoyed watching the Bears succeed on the offensive end as well.
"It always feels good to score goals, but being a defender, even though we're not the one's scoring the goals, seeing the forwards finally getting those goals… especially all the freshmen, and how excited they are… is a really a fun feeling," Norman said.
Sophomore midfielder Maddie Algya said she can feel the team's progress on both the offensive and defensive fronts.
"I think we're really growing as like a team," Algya said. "Every game, we've been building and getting way, way better."
While Texas has several skilled players, Algya said she feels confident going into the matchup.
"They definitely have some fast players, but nothing we haven't seen yet," Algya said. "I think that we've seen our hardest competition already."
As the fall season nears its end, Jobson said Baylor is keeping the NCAA Tournament in in the spring in the back of its mind.
"I feel like we're in really good form right now," Jobson said. "We're peaking in a lot of different ways, and hopefully [we] just finish out these last few matches on a high note so that we kind of go into the break with some momentum and some encouragement to maybe take some extra steps to be ready once spring rolls back around."
Friday's game will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network.
STORY LINES
- Baylor hits the road for its final road tilt of the fall campaign as the Bears take on Texas at 7 p.m. Friday in Austin. The two teams are tied in the Big 12 standings with nine points each.
- BU is coming off a 4-0 victory over Kansas State a week ago. It marked the most goals scored by the Bears this season. Under head coach Paul Jobson, Baylor has scored four goals in a match 18 times; however Friday marked only the third time BU has done so against a league foe. The previous two times happened in 2019 against West Virginia and TCU.
- G is for goals as junior Giuliana Cunningham netted a pair of goals vs. Kansas State. It marked the first multi-goal game of her career and the first multi-goal game for Baylor since Raegan Padgett scored two at TCU in 2019.
- Baylor loves set pieces. The Bears scored two of their goals on Friday off set pieces, both of which came from Chloe Japic. The first was off a corner kick that Mackenzie Anthony headed into the back of the net in the 27th minute. The second was off a free kick at midfield. Japic booted it towards the box, Chloe Brown then headed it to Cunningham who finished with her right foot from about 15 yards out.
- Meanwhile, Texas comes into Friday's match off a 2-0 loss at No. 12 Oklahoma State, despite outshooting the Cowgirls, 11-9. The Longhorns are led by Haley Berg, Julia Grosso and Presley Echols each with two goals on the season, while Savannah Madden has played every minute between the pipes for Texas and has a 1.14 GAA.
- Of the 27 matches all-time vs. Texas, 14 of them have been decided by one goal. Four of the last five contests have gone to overtime.
YOU DON'T WANDT NONE OF THIS
- Jennifer Wandt is Baylor's all-time leader in career shutouts with 30 as she passed Baylor Hall-of-Famer Dawn Greathouse (1997-00) in the draw vs. the Cowgirls.
- Of the 72 matches Wandt has played in during her time at Baylor, she's recorded a shutout 41.7 percent of the time.
- She is in sole possession of fifth place in Big 12 history. Wandt currently trails Melanie Wilson who recorded 32 shutouts at Texas A&M (1996-99).
- Wandt is tied for second in the country with five shutouts so far this season; however, she is the lone goalkeeper to record three of her shutouts in double-overtime ties (110 minutes).
NO GOAL PATROL
- Two of BU's five shutouts have come vs. ranked opponents (TCU, Oklahoma State and Kansas).
- Baylor is tied for second in the country with a .714 shutout percentage.
- The Bears have not allowed a goal at home all season. BU is one of three schools to pitch shutouts at home all season (Clemson, Florida State, TCU).
- Baylor has not allowed a goal at home in over a year (since Oct. 25, 2019).
- Since 2013, BU has totaled 71 shutouts, 40 of which have come at home. Seven of them have come against ranked opponents. Ten of them ended in a double overtime scoreless draw.
