SOC Closes Out Regular Season at Oklahoma

Thursday, October 28

Norman, OK

7 PM

Baylor

Oklahoma

SOC Closes Out Regular Season at Oklahoma

10/27/2021 2:01:00 PM | Soccer

Game Notes

Bears face the Sooners before Big 12 tournament starts Oct. 31

BAYLOR VS. OKLAHOMA
Thursday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
John Crain Field
Video: Bally Sports Oklahoma

BAYLOR BEARS
2021 Record: 8-3-5
Head Coach: Paul Jobson
Career: 97-55-25 (9^th season)
BU: 97-55-25 (9^th season)

OKLAHOMA SOONERS
2021 Record: 7-10-1
Head Coach: Mark Carr
Career Record: 40-90-19 (8^th Season)
OU Record: 8-22-3 (2^nd Season)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            You can't teach an old dog new tricks, a leopard doesn't change its spots and Baylor soccer's not about to make a lot of changes 17 games into the season.
            The Bears (8-3-6, 4-1-3) will close out the regular season when they face Oklahoma (7-10-1, 3-5-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday at John Crain Field in Norman, Okla., riding a string of four-straight shutouts.
            "Hopefully, you're a good enough team that they've got to deal with you at your best," Baylor coach Paul Jobson said. "Through the season, you're sharpening and refining . . . You may throw a tweak in there or something like that. But, at this time of the year, you should be as good as you're going to be, if not trending almost to the best of your ability."
            Baylor ranks among the best defenses in the country, posting eight shutouts and giving up 0.723 goals per game. Kayley Ables and Sarah Norman have earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors, while Jennifer Wandt has taken Goalkeeper of the Week honors three times.
            "We always want a shutout, no matter who we're playing," Ables said. "I think most of it is mental, because athleticism takes you the first few minutes. But, once you get tired, you start forgetting about players being open or start getting maybe a little lazier. I think it's just staying clued in to knowing where everyone is and still communicating to prevent potential breakdowns."
            Since scoring a combined seven goals in three-straight wins over Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas Tech to open league play, though, the Bears have netted just three goals in their last five games.
            Sophomore forward Mackenzie Anthony broke out of a personal scoring drought with a pair of goals in last Thursday's 2-0 win over Iowa State and ranks third in the league with eight goals.
            "I think as a forward, as a goal scorer, you've got to have that (grind-it-out) mentality," Jobson said. "The average is you've got to have seven shots to get a goal. Those odds are not good, that's worse than a baseball batting average. They've got to keep going at it, knowing that it'll come eventually."
            Anthony echoed that sentiment, saying "the goals are going to come as long as we just keep taking shots and keep going at them."
            Facing Oklahoma for the third time in the last 12 months, the Bears get a Sooner team that has won three of its last four games to clinch a berth in the Big 12 Championship that starts Sunday in Round Rock. In a COVID-affected 2020-21 season, Baylor recorded two of its five victories against OU, winning 1-0 in Waco and 2-1 in Norman.
            "They have some momentum and they've got some excitement around a new coach," Jobson said. "They have some things that are probably hitting in the right spot for them now. So, I think they're feeling good about it. We definitely can't overlook them. We have an opportunity to go up and finish our season the way we want to."
            With a win or a tie, Baylor will earn no worse than the No. 3 seed for the Big 12 tournament, while a loss could damage the Bears' NCAA tournament resume. They are 46^th in the latest RPI rankings, which is the fourth-best in the Big 12.
            "Every game that we play has NCAA implications, from the beginning of the year to the end," Jobson said. "You look back at beating TCU, beating SMU, those had NCAA implications that we didn't know about at the time. But, every game matters. We can't look past OU. It's going to mean something for seeding in the Big 12, it's going to mean something for the NCAA, just like every other game has. So, we have to approach it like we have every other match."
            Thursday's game will be streamed by Bally Sports Oklahoma, with live stats available at baylorbears.com.

STORY LINES

Baylor is set to close out their regular season Thursday Oct. 28 at Oklahoma.
This is the 26th meeting between the two teams where Baylor leads the all-time record 13-6-6. The Bears are riding a 12-game unbeaten streak against the Sooners, Not having lost a game since Sept. 26, 2010.
The Bears are coming off of a week of play against Iowa State where they shutout the Cyclones 2-0 and a 0-0 draw against West Virginia.
Baylor has now shutout its last four opponents, not allowing a goal in 498 consecutive minutes of play. Those 498 minutes rank the 5th most shutout minutes in Baylor soccer record books. Goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt holds three of the top 10 spots with; 4th with 505:43, 5th with 498, and 10th with 366:29.
In the Bears 2-0 win over Iowa State, Mackenzie Anthony netted her first two goals of Big 12 play. She leads the team with eight total goals this season. She also leads the team in points this season with 19.
The Baylor backline (aka the No Goal Patrol) and Wandt have tallied eight shutouts this season.
Resident defender, Kayley Ables, picked up the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honor this week after her performances against Iowa State and West Virginia. Against ISU the bears and Ables held the Cyclones to just six shots with only one on goal. Against WVU the Bears allowed 14 shots but just five on goal. The Mountaineers didn't record any shots between the 10th and 59th minute.
All four Baylor defenders, Kayley Ables, Sarah Norman, Sarah Hornyak, and Ava Colberg played all 200 minutes on the pitch last week.
Picking up career shutouts 38 and 39 last week, Jennifer Wandt now sits in 2nd in the Big 12 record books in that category.
During the Iowa State game, Elizabeth Kooiman assisted in Mackenzie Anthony's first goal bringing her total on the season to five. She leads the Bears in assists.
Playing minutes off the bench last week were Giuliana Cunningham, Olivia Mack, Chloe Brown, and Madeline Bryant. Bryant's four minutes played against West Virginia were her first Big 12 minutes so far this season.
Ally Henderson-Ashkinos has etched her name into the Baylor soccer record books. She now holds the top spot for games played in a career with 98, games started in a career with 97 and she is tied for 7th in the all-time career assists with 15.
Coming in right behind Henderson-Ashkinos is Wandt with 95 games played in her career and 88 games started. Wandt holds the record for career goalkeeper minutes played with 8525.
In the Top Drawer Soccer Top 100 National Freshman - Midseason update, freshman Ava Colberg made the list at number 38.