Baylor
Texas Tech
SOC hits the road to take on Texas Tech
9/17/2020 11:12:00 AM | Soccer
Bears to face preseason favorite Red Raiders in nationally televised contest
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BAYLOR BEARS (0-0-1) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Paul Jobson (Presbyterian, 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (0-0-1) at TEXAS TECH (0-0) Sept. 18, 2020 • 5:30 p.m. CT Lubbock, Texas • John Walker Soccer Complex Live Stats: baylorstats.com WATCH: ESPNU Baylor Social Media:    |
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TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS Location: Lubbock, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Tom Stone (Duke, 1987) Roster | Stats | Game Notes |
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By Meredith Pratt
After opening the season with a scoreless draw against TCU last Friday, the Baylor soccer team (0-0-1) will play Big 12 preseason favorite Texas Tech (0-0-0) at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the John Walker Soccer Complex in Lubbock.
Although the six-hour bus trip gave the Bears plenty of time to prepare for their West Texas rivals (and the turf field), sophomore Maddie Algya said she was just thrilled to travel together as a team.
"I think everyone's more excited than anything," Algya said. "The overall mood is just excitement, because we haven't traveled as a team yet, and usually by this point we've done a lot of that."
Algya said the Bears have a good idea of what they're going up against the Red Raiders.
"I'm expecting (Tech) to definitely push us around a bit," Algya said. "Their midfields are pretty tall, so our shorter players in there are going to have to definitely body up. They played a four-person midfield last time, and we have three, so we're going to need constant communication."
Baylor is 17-7-3 all-time against Texas Tech and had won four in a row before losing twice to the Red Raiders last year. Returning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Kirsten Davis scored both goals in Tech's 2-0 win in Waco, then netted a first-half goal in Tech's 1-0 win in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.
"I think the things we're taking from last year with our veterans is how inconsistent we were throughout the season," Baylor head coach Paul Jobson said. "This team is so new. We're starting four freshmen, playing seven. It's got to have a totally different mentality and attitude. How can we be more consistent with the way we play and our mentality?"
Junior defender Kayley Ables said she believes the TCU game was a great starting point for the Bears.
"I think we did really well, considering we had seven freshmen playing on the field at one point," Ables said. "That was good for them to get experience. But, I think with each game it's going to get better as they get more experience."
Ables was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after helping Baylor's defense survive a TCU attack that rifled off 26 shots and making a save in the 16th minute of play when goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt was pulled out of the net.
In an adjusted conference-only schedule, Ables said she sees advantages and disadvantages in playing only one game every weekend.
"We get extra time to recover, which is an amazing thing," Ables said. "But also, you lack some of the experience you get from playing multiple games playing on tired legs, which the freshmen have never had to do before."
Coming off last week's draw against TCU, Jobson said he knows the freshmen will continue to learn as the season progresses and hopefully hit their stride sooner rather than later.
"The veterans remember, and the freshmen now know, that everything has to be played a little bit faster," Jobson said. "You have to experience it and, when you're comfortable, your head goes down and you're not seeing as much. As you get more comfortable, your eyes come up and you see a little bit more of the field. That's going to be the transition. It won't happen overnight, but over the next couple weeks we'll see more offensive connections amongst our players."
Friday's game will be broadcast on ESPNU, with live stats available at www.baylorstats.com.
STORY LINES
- Baylor hits the road to take on preseason favorite Texas Tech. The game will be nationally broadcasted on ESPNU, marking the third time in three years that Baylor Soccer is on the U. BU won 3-1 against Kansas in 2018 before recorded a double overtime draw against No. 2 USC a year ago.
- Kayley Ables was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after she broke up many TCU offensive attacks down the right side of the field in Friday's double-overtime scoreless draw. The junior was responsible for a team save in the 16th minute of play as the goalkeeper was out of position and Ables slid in at the perfect time to keep the Horned Frogs from scoring.
- The Bears opened their season with a scoreless draw in double overtime vs. TCU on Friday. While the Horned Frogs finished with 26 shots, 11 of them were blocked as BU displayed a tough team defense.
- Jennifer Wandt finished with her 26th career shutout. She is now tied for second alongside Michelle Kloss (2010, 12-14) and is one shy of matching the program's best mark set by Dawn Greathouse (1997-00).
- Wandt was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week.
- Seven freshmen made their collegiate debuts vs. TCU: Mackenzie Anthony, Gabby Mueller, Sarah Hornyak, Chloe Japic, Chloe Brown, Olivia Mack and Abby Schmidt. It marked the first time since 2015 that BU played seven freshmen.
- Four freshmen - Anthony, Mueller, Hornyak and Japic - made the start for the Bears on Friday. It was the first time since head coach Paul Jobson started at Baylor in 2008 that Baylor started four freshmen.
- Japic logged 110 minutes, becoming the first freshman to play the entire season opener since Ables in 2018 and the first freshman to log 110 minutes in the season opener since Julie James in 2015.
- The Bears return 14 letterwinners from a year ago, including eight starters. Leading the way are midfielder Ally Henderson and defender Sarah Norman, who each topped the team a year ago in minutes played, along with Wandt.
- Henderson is one assist away from tying for eighth in program history with 13 career assists. Last season, she recorded a stretch of four games with an assist from Sept. 22 to Oct. 3.
- Wandt looks to move up in the Baylor record books in a few categories: Third in career saves (205), third in career goalkeeper minutes (5,891), second in career solo shutouts (26) and second in career wins (39).
- Elizabeth Kooiman returns after finishing last season as a unanimous selection to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. The forward looks to build off a year that saw her net the program's first hat trick since 2010 as she finished the season as the Big 12 leader in shot accuracy.
- Many new faces will take the field for Baylor this season as BU welcomes in 14 freshmen, one of the largest incoming classes in program history.
- Head coach Paul Jobson returns for his eighth season at the helm (13th season overall) at Baylor. He is the program's all-time wins leader (84) after passing his wife, Marci (78, 2008-14) last year.
- Baylor was picked seventh in the Big 12 Preseason Poll and received one first-place vote.
- Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field has undergone some recent upgrades. After a new pitch was installed with an updated drainage system in 2019, new LED lights were added in August.
- Baylor is 17-7-3 all-time against Texas Tech. The Bears had won four straight in the series until the Red Raiders won both contests a year ago.
- Since 2012, BU is 3-1 in Lubbock.
- Texas Tech was picked to win the league in the 2020 preseason poll. The Red Raiders boast three preseason All-Big 12 selections: reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Kirsten Davis, All-American defender Cassie Hiatt and reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year Madison White in goal.
