BAYLOR VS OREGON
Thursday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. CT
Papé Field
Video: Pac-12 Network
 
BAYLOR VS NEBRASKA
Sunday, Aug. 20 at 1 p.m. CT
Hibner Soccer Stadium
Video: Big-10+

BAYLOR BEARS
Head Coach: Michelle Lenard (North Texas, 2003)
Career Record: 205-88-27 (16th season)
BU Record: 4-11-2 (2nd season)
 
OREGON DUCKS
2023 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Graeme Abel (Brescia, 2001)
Career Record: 19-17-18 (4^th season)
Oregon Record: 19-17-18 (4^th season)
 
NEBRASKA HUSKERS
2023 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: John Walker (Queens University, 1987)
Career Record: 348-189-58 (29^th season)
Nebraska Record: 348-189-58 (29^th season)


By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After a difficult 4-11-2 debut season, Baylor soccer coach Michelle Lenard said there is "an entirely different comfort level" for her and the team going into Year 2.
            Playing all but one of their first five games on the road, the Bears will open the season with a road swing that includes a matchup against Oregon at 7 p.m. CT Thursday at Papé Field in Eugene, Ore., followed by a game against former Big 12 rival Nebraska at 1 p.m. Sunday at Hibner Soccer Stadium in Lincoln, Neb.
            "I think we've had time to lay the found that we wanted to lay," said Lenard, who has a career record of 205-88-27. "Last year was just so much to do in such a short period of time. And we did what we could under the circumstances, but time helps."
            Lenard brought in 15 newcomers, including 11 freshmen and four transfers – goalkeeper Makinzie Short from Oklahoma, defender Natalie Vatter from Ole Miss, midfielder Hannah Boughton from Missouri and forward Tyler Isgrig from TCU.
            "It's been fun incorporating new girls and just creating a new culture for the team and making everyone play on the same page and everyone having the same IQ, knowing the ways of the team and how we want to play," said senior forward Ashley Merrill, who scored four goals last year after netting 32 in two years with Lenard at Dallas Baptist.
            Merrill and sophomore forward/midfielder Reneta Vargas combined for nine of the team's 15 goals last season and scored 10 points apiece, with Vargas scoring five in just eight games.
            Isgrig, a sophomore from Arlington, tied for third with six goals for a TCU team that was the Big 12 runner-up and made it to the Sweet 16. Boughton had a goal and three assists from her midfielder spot at Missouri, while freshman forwards Callie Conrad and Skylar Zinnecker set scoring records at Mansfield Lake Ridge and Austin Westwood, respectively.
            "We've got multiple scoring threats," Lenard said. "Not all of them are going to score 15, 20 goals a year. But if they're all scoring a handful of goals, were already in a better position than we were last year."
            Merrill said she's developed a quick connection with Boughton, who is "also really attacking-minded."
            "It's nice to have someone always with you when you're running the box or making those runs," Merrill said, "someone also wants to attack the box, score, someone who's hungry for a goal as well. It's fun playing with her. I think we're really strong together."
            Jenna Patterson, who scored 13 goals in three seasons at DBU, had two assists for the Bears last year. She said her and Zinnecker "are able to make runs off of each other."
            "I really liked the springtime just as a team," Patterson said, "just because there's a lot of time to grow and develop. And we also use that time to focus on different things, which is like our relationships off the field with each other. Bringing in new people in the spring, honestly, is sometimes more beneficial because we use that time and then the summer to really get to know each other before going into the fall."
            Baylor opens against an Oregon team that was 4-8-7 last year and 11^th in the Pac-12 under coach Graeme Abel. Nebraska leads the all-time series with Baylor, 13-8-3, winning 2-1 two years ago in Waco, and tied for fourth in the Big Ten last year with an overall record of 8-7-5.
            "We don't have a scouting report on (Oregon) because they haven't played yet this season," Lenard said of the Ducks. "But ultimately, we're prepared for our team to play against a number of different scenarios. I don't know exactly what to expect from them, but I feel pretty confident what to expect from us."
            Thursday's game will be streamed by the Pac-12 Network, while Sunday's matchup against Nebraska will be shown by the Big Ten+.

 
STORY LINES

• Baylor opens its 2023 season on the road with a match against Oregon on Thursday before traveling to Nebraska to wrap things up on Sunday. The Bears are starting their season on the road for only the ninth time in program history and are 3-4-1 in those contests.
• 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.
• With the NCAA now allowing a third paid assistant for coaching staffs, volunteer assistant and goalkeepers coach, Cameron Carter, was promoted to assistant coach in July of 2023.
• With the new Big 12 teams joining the conference this season, the Bears will only play 10 of the 13 other opponents this season. The Bears will face all four of the new schools, Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU. BU will not face Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or West Virginia in regular season play.
• Coming off a 2022 campaign that featured a 4-11-2 record, BU finished ninth in the conference.
• Baylor has a 31 person roster this season and features 16 returners and 15 newcomers. 
• BU has nine starters returning, Madison Martin, Jenna Patterson, Reneta Vargas, Blythe Obar, Ashley Merrill, Ava Colberg, Morgan Greensage, Hallie Augustyn and Hannah Augustyn.
• Baylor lost four starters from the 2022 squad. 
• Joining the 2022 squad are four transfers, Makinzie Short (Oklahoma), Natalie Vatter (Ole Miss), Hannah Boughton (Missouri) and Tyler Isgrig (TCU). 
• The 11 incoming freshmen are, Salma Simonin, Adriana Merriam, Callie Conrad, Brianna Chesley, Theresa McCullough, Georgia Mulholland, Skylar Zinnecker, Claire Kniss, Kaitlin Swann, Caroline Staubach and Riley Franklin.
• The NCAA has done away with overtime during the regular season, meaning that every game will end at the end of the 90-minute regulation time. 
• This season the Bears roster features an international student-athlete for the first time since the 2017 season when the Bears had two. Salma Simonin comes to Baylor from Manchester, United Kingdom.
• BU faced two opponents during preseason play, defeating Oklahoma, 3-2, and Tarleton 4-0. The Bears matchup against OU was likely the last time these two teams will face each other as conference opponents, although it was a preseason match.
• Ashley Merrill picked up where she left off last season, scoring three of the Bears goals in the preseason contests. Also finding the back of the net against Oklahoma and Tarleton were transfer Tyler Isgrig, Jenna Patterson and Micah Beasley. 
• Merrill and Reneta Vargas were the team's leading point scorers last season with 10 and are both back this season. 
• The Bears are 1-0-1 all-time against Oregon, with the last meeting on Sept. 12, 2021, when BU and the Ducks tied 2-2 in double overtime.
• BU's old Big 12 Conference foe, Nebraska holds the all-time record over Baylor (13-8-3), with the last meeting on August 26, 2021, when the Huskers won, 2-1.