Baylor
Oklahoma
SOC Heads to Oklahoma for Final Road Match
4/8/2021 9:27:00 AM | Soccer
Bears defeated OU, 1-0, in overtime in November
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BAYLOR BEARS (4-5-3) Location: Waco, Texas Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Paul Jobson (Presbyterian, 1999) Roster | Stats | Game Notes (PDF) |
BAYLOR (4-5-3) at OKLAHOMA (0-11-2) April 10, 2021 • 4 p.m. CT Norman, Okla. • John Crain Field Live Stats: baylorstats.com WATCH: Big 12 Now on ESPN+ Baylor Social Media:    |
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OKLAHOMA SOONERS (0-11-2) Location: Norman, Okla. Conference: Big 12 Head Coach: Mark Carr (Bournemouth University, 2001) Roster | Stats (PDF) | Game Notes (PDF) |
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By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Playing its only road game in an abbreviated spring schedule, Baylor soccer (4-5-3) will face a winless Oklahoma team (0-11-2) at 4 p.m. Saturday at John Crain Field in Norman.
The Bears, who were 0-3-1 in road games in the fall, are coming off a frustrating 4-0 loss at home to Texas after Taylor Moon had a hat trick in a 5-0 win over Louisiana.
"We've had a great week of training, and I think that's what's great about the veteran leadership of this group is they've been in these situations before," coach Paul Jobson said. "Their focus is knowing that we've got a quality group in front of us, and we'll be really good moving forward and not missing an opportunity. I think we've bought into that."
From the high of a game that saw Baylor score a season-high five goals against Louisiana, the Bears were dominated by a Texas team that beat them 1-0 in the fall.
"As a team, that wasn't us," said Moon, who leads the team with five goals and 10 points. "We know that, we realize that, and I think we can use that game as motivation. It was just embarrassing."
Baylor actually had more shots on goal (12-9), but Texas scored in the 15th minute and netted two more goals in the first half.
"As up as they were, we weren't," Jobson said. "That's a bad mixture when you face a good team. You can get away with that with some lesser teams. You can win back momentum and you can swing it your way. But, when you face a good team, anybody in the Big 12, you've got to be on your game and you're not able to take your foot off the gas."
At 125th in the latest RPI rankings, "we recognize that we're probably out of the NCAA Tournament at this point," Jobson said. But, he would like to see the team build some momentum with Saturday's game at Oklahoma and the April 17 game at home against Texas Tech (3-6-2).
"It's a hard realization to come to when your goal is to compete in the national tournament year in and year out," Jobson said. "We want to be that kind of team. But, I think you've got to meet those hard truths head-on and figure out what's the best path to move forward. That's where we are. We're not going to reflect back on it. We can learn from those things, and we've just got to move forward."
Getting confirmations that his three seniors are taking the COVID year of eligibility and coming back for the fall, Jobson said he is "stoked" that the core of this team will be back.
"We're always playing for something," sophomore midfielder Maddie Algya said, "whether it's getting better for next year or for postseason. We don't usually get a bunch of games in the spring, especially Big 12 games. So, it's really crucial to get these games under our belt and then be ready for the fall, because the Big 12 comes right bak again."
STORY LINES
- Baylor hits the road for its lone away contest of the spring slate with a nonconference contest at Oklahoma in Norman at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
- The Bears topped the Sooners in overtime on Nov. 6 to close the fall portion of the 2020 slate. Three of the last four and eight of the 25 overall matches between BU and OU have gone to overtime. In extra time, the two teams are 1-1-6.
- Olivia Mack was golden for Baylor back in November as she scored her first career goal on a rebound off an Ally Henderson corner kick and header by Giuliana Cunningham in the seventh minute of the first overtime.
- Minutes before Mack's goal, Oklahoma had its chance to record its first win of 2020 when Lauren Tovy received a through ball and had a one-on-one chance against BU keeper Jennifer Wandt who was coming off her line. Tovy booted a shot from about 12 yards out, but Wandt was there with the kick save to dash the Sooners' hopes of victory.
- After Saturday's contest at Oklahoma, Baylor has only one game remaining in its extended 2020 season as Texas Tech comes to town on April 17.
- Baylor wrapped up the fall with a 3-3-3 record to finish fifth in the Big 12 standings. BU was one of the tops in the country in shutout percentage as six of the Bears' nine matches they pitched a shutout.
- Baylor racked up six Big 12 honors in November with three second-teamers (Jennifer Wandt, Kayley Ables and Taylor Moon) and three All-Freshman selections (Mackenzie Anthony, Chloe Japic and Gabby Mueller).
