Monday, October 23
Houston, Texas
7 PM
Baylor
at
Houston
SOC Set to Close Out Regular Season at Houston
10/22/2023 3:34:00 PM | Soccer
Bears and Cougars facing off for the seventh time in program history
BAYLOR at HOUSTON
Monday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. CT
Carl Lewis International Complex
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+
BAYLOR (8-6-3)
Head Coach: Michelle Lenard (North Texas, 2003)
Career Record: 213-94-30 (16th season)
BU Record: 12-17-5 (2nd season)
HOUSTON (8-7-2)
Head Coach: Jaime Frias (Centenary (LA), 2000)
Career Record: 63-57-11 (7th season)
UH Record: 14-14-5 (2nd season)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Coming off its first loss in three weeks, Baylor soccer (8-6-3, 3-4-2) will try to nail down a berth in the Big 12 Championship when the Bears face Houston (8-7-2, 2-6-1) at 7 p.m. Monday in the regular-season finale at Carl Lewis International Complex.
Tied for seventh in the league going into a full lineup on the final day of the regular season, Baylor will clinch one of the 10 spots for the postseason conference tournament with a win or tie against the Cougars. Holding a tiebreaker over Cincinnati, Houston would grab the last spot with a win over the Bears and losses by Cincinnati and Iowa State.
"Our past games don't define us," sophomore goalkeeper Ashlee Zirkel said. "We're getting ready for the Big 12 tournament and what the NCAA tournament holds for us, too. Houston isn't the end of this team by any means. Just gearing up and knowing that we've gotten through conference now and to take it up one more notch and get ready for the Big 12 tournament."
With a chance to clinch early and potentially stay alive for a first-round bye, Baylor fell to then-No. 21 TCU, 1-0, last Sunday on a penalty-kick goal by the Horned Frogs' AJ Hennessey in the eighth minute of the game.
"I think we were really disappointed with the first half," assistant coach Lea Sedwick Caffey said, "because that did not represent our game model at all. We fell into some old habits and really bad mistakes, and we paid for it. The second half, we made some tactical adjustments and the girls took to it really well.
"We have confidence from the second half moving forward, knowing that if we go into a game with the right mentality from the beginning . . . we can play with anybody. But if we come out soft, we're going to pay for it. And that's what happened."
Sophomore midfielder Skye Leach said the difference between the tight loss to TCU and getting outscored 10-0 in blowout losses to Texas, BYU and Texas Tech last month is "just our mindset."
"The first half of the TCU game, something was just off," Leach said. "Coach says they have 11 players, we have 11 players, but the difference is our mindset. And I think you could see that when we came out in the second half. We showed that we can compete with them, and we just had a better mentality as a whole."
Houston lost its first four conference games before pulling out wins over West Virginia and Kansas and a 2-2 tie with TCU. The Cougars are fourth in the league with 37 goals for the season, but they have been doubled up in conference play, 18-9.
Caffey said five of Houston's last six goals have come off set plays, so "that's what we've been working on."
"We feel like we've come up against some other opponents this year that have been good at set plays as well," she said. "And we've seen how that can be a challenge for us a little bit. We're generally pretty good at defending set plays when it comes to comes to corners. It's not like we're poor on defensive set plays. We just have to concentrate a little bit better and actually get our clearances. If we can defend that first ball coming in, then we'll be good."
Other than simply playing their way in with a win or tie, the Bears can also make the Big 12 Championship with either a loss by Cincinnati at West Virginia or a Texas Tech win at Iowa State.
"Our destiny is in our own hands right now," Caffey said. "We can control it, to a certain extent, as much as you can control the game. I feel like if we go out there and play the way that we want to play, then we'll get a good result. That's exactly what we're telling the team."
Baylor leads the all-time series with Houston, 5-1-0, including last year's 3-0 shutout victory in Houston.
The Big 12 Championship begins Saturday at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex in Round Rock, Texas, with the No. 8 seed facing the ninth seed at 1 p.m., followed by the No. 7 seed versus the 10th seed at 3:30 p.m. Quarterfinals are scheduled for next Monday, Oct. 30, followed by the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 1, and the final on Nov. 4, with the winner getting the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"My dad sent me a quote this morning that pressure is a privilege," Leach said. "We need to look at it like people believe in us, we believe in each other and just play every game like it's our last. So then, we have the same mentality for each game."
Monday's game against Houston will be streamed live by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Matt Pedersen, Alex Parra and Alexx Holmes calling the action.
STORY LINES
Monday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. CT
Carl Lewis International Complex
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+
BAYLOR (8-6-3)
Head Coach: Michelle Lenard (North Texas, 2003)
Career Record: 213-94-30 (16th season)
BU Record: 12-17-5 (2nd season)
HOUSTON (8-7-2)
Head Coach: Jaime Frias (Centenary (LA), 2000)
Career Record: 63-57-11 (7th season)
UH Record: 14-14-5 (2nd season)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Coming off its first loss in three weeks, Baylor soccer (8-6-3, 3-4-2) will try to nail down a berth in the Big 12 Championship when the Bears face Houston (8-7-2, 2-6-1) at 7 p.m. Monday in the regular-season finale at Carl Lewis International Complex.
Tied for seventh in the league going into a full lineup on the final day of the regular season, Baylor will clinch one of the 10 spots for the postseason conference tournament with a win or tie against the Cougars. Holding a tiebreaker over Cincinnati, Houston would grab the last spot with a win over the Bears and losses by Cincinnati and Iowa State.
"Our past games don't define us," sophomore goalkeeper Ashlee Zirkel said. "We're getting ready for the Big 12 tournament and what the NCAA tournament holds for us, too. Houston isn't the end of this team by any means. Just gearing up and knowing that we've gotten through conference now and to take it up one more notch and get ready for the Big 12 tournament."
With a chance to clinch early and potentially stay alive for a first-round bye, Baylor fell to then-No. 21 TCU, 1-0, last Sunday on a penalty-kick goal by the Horned Frogs' AJ Hennessey in the eighth minute of the game.
"I think we were really disappointed with the first half," assistant coach Lea Sedwick Caffey said, "because that did not represent our game model at all. We fell into some old habits and really bad mistakes, and we paid for it. The second half, we made some tactical adjustments and the girls took to it really well.
"We have confidence from the second half moving forward, knowing that if we go into a game with the right mentality from the beginning . . . we can play with anybody. But if we come out soft, we're going to pay for it. And that's what happened."
Sophomore midfielder Skye Leach said the difference between the tight loss to TCU and getting outscored 10-0 in blowout losses to Texas, BYU and Texas Tech last month is "just our mindset."
"The first half of the TCU game, something was just off," Leach said. "Coach says they have 11 players, we have 11 players, but the difference is our mindset. And I think you could see that when we came out in the second half. We showed that we can compete with them, and we just had a better mentality as a whole."
Houston lost its first four conference games before pulling out wins over West Virginia and Kansas and a 2-2 tie with TCU. The Cougars are fourth in the league with 37 goals for the season, but they have been doubled up in conference play, 18-9.
Caffey said five of Houston's last six goals have come off set plays, so "that's what we've been working on."
"We feel like we've come up against some other opponents this year that have been good at set plays as well," she said. "And we've seen how that can be a challenge for us a little bit. We're generally pretty good at defending set plays when it comes to comes to corners. It's not like we're poor on defensive set plays. We just have to concentrate a little bit better and actually get our clearances. If we can defend that first ball coming in, then we'll be good."
Other than simply playing their way in with a win or tie, the Bears can also make the Big 12 Championship with either a loss by Cincinnati at West Virginia or a Texas Tech win at Iowa State.
"Our destiny is in our own hands right now," Caffey said. "We can control it, to a certain extent, as much as you can control the game. I feel like if we go out there and play the way that we want to play, then we'll get a good result. That's exactly what we're telling the team."
Baylor leads the all-time series with Houston, 5-1-0, including last year's 3-0 shutout victory in Houston.
The Big 12 Championship begins Saturday at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex in Round Rock, Texas, with the No. 8 seed facing the ninth seed at 1 p.m., followed by the No. 7 seed versus the 10th seed at 3:30 p.m. Quarterfinals are scheduled for next Monday, Oct. 30, followed by the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 1, and the final on Nov. 4, with the winner getting the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
"My dad sent me a quote this morning that pressure is a privilege," Leach said. "We need to look at it like people believe in us, we believe in each other and just play every game like it's our last. So then, we have the same mentality for each game."
Monday's game against Houston will be streamed live by Big 12 Now on ESPN+, with Matt Pedersen, Alex Parra and Alexx Holmes calling the action.
STORY LINES
- Baylor soccer closes out its regular season slate this week, as they take on Houston on Monday, Oct. 23, at the Carl Lewis Invitational Complex.
- The 2023 season marks the 27th season of the Baylor Soccer program. During that time, BU has won four Big 12 titles, advanced to two Elite Eights and had four All-Americans to go with countless All-Big 12 and Academic All-Big 12 honorees.
- This season also marks the second year of the Michelle Lenard coaching era, as she was selected as the Bears sixth head coach in program history in December of 2021.
- The Bears are 8-6-3 on the season so far, tying a win total from the 2021 season. With one more win, the Bears will record the most wins in a season since the 2018 campaign when BU made it to the Elite Eight.
- The Bears have compiled seven shutout wins so far this season and have scored 28 goals. BU's seven shutouts are the most in a season since 2021 when the Bears finished with eight.
- The Bears 28 goals this season are also the most since that 2018 season when the Bears won a Big 12 title.
- Eleven different players have scored this season. Tyler Isgrig and Ashley Merrill both lead the way with 19 points. Isgrig's points come from six goals and seven assists, while Merrill's come from a team-leading nine goals and one assist.
- With Isgrig's seven assists on the season, it marks the most by a Bear since 2018 when Ally Henderson Ashkinos and Jackie Crowther both had seven as Baylor rolled to a 20-6 ledger that season.
- Five newcomers have scored goals so far this season: Callie Conrad, Skylar Zinnecker, Theresa McCullough, Natalie Vatter and Salma Simonin.
- Fifteen different Bears have recorded a point this season.
- Goalkeepers Makinzie Short and Ashlee Zirkel have split time in goal this season, with Zirkel starting in six of the last seven conference matchups.
- Six Bears have recorded their first-career goals so far this season.
- The Bears had not recorded a loss through the past five games and held a 3-3-2 record in conference play before narrowly falling to No. 21 TCU, 1-0, last Sunday.
- BU's seven goals against ACU this season was the first seven-goal game since Sept. 18, 2016, when the Bears beat Jackson State at home, 7-0.
- Also, in the win over ACU, Ashley Merrill recorded the first hat trick for the Bears, since Taylor Moon did so on March 27, 2021, vs Louisiana.
- Merrill now ties Baylor records with three second-half goals and six second-half points. Her three goals in under four minutes is the fastest hat trick in Baylor soccer history. She also has now scored in five matches so far this season.
- BU holds the 5-1-0 all-time record over the Cougars, with the Bears defeating the Houston, 3-0, on Sept. 1, 2022. This will be the first meeting between the two squads as conference opponents.
- BaylorBears.com -
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