SOC Falls in Conference Opener Against No. 16 Texas, 4-0

Thursday, September 14

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

4-3-1, 0-1-0

#16 Texas

7-1-1, 1-0-0

Texas

Baylor

SOC Falls in Conference Opener Against No. 16 Texas, 4-0

9/14/2023 10:33:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Box Score

Bears hold the Longhorns scoreless in the first half

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Keeping 16^th-ranked Texas off the board, Baylor sophomore goalkeeper Ashlee Zirkel recorded six of her career-high nine saves in the first half of Thursday's Big 12 Conference opener at Betty Lou Mays Field to preserve a 0-0 tie.
            But dangerous midfielder Lexi Missimo scored a penalty-kick goal off a hand-ball call in the 55^th minute, opening up the floodgates for the Longhorns (7-1-1), who netted three more goals in the last 13 minutes to knock off the Bears, 4-0.
            "The penalty swung the momentum against us," said second-year Baylor head coach Michelle Lenard, whose team fell to 4-3-1, "but we need to be able to handle that situation a lot better than we did. It's hard to put a finger on it right now. . . . We had a good game plan, I felt, going into the second half. I don't think we applied the game plan very well, so I'm pretty disappointed in that and frustrated with the players."
            Texas, the reigning Big 12 regular-season champion, ran its conference unbeaten streak to 19-consecutive games and recorded its sixth-straight shutout. The Longhorns haven't allowed a goal since a 3-1 loss to LSU on Aug. 24.
            "Obviously, Texas has some really good players," Lenard said. "Frankly, I think we just played intimidated and nervous, which just gave them more time and space on the ball and led to things getting worse for us."
            Baylor was out-shot, 10-2, in the first half, and had just one shot on frame in the first 45 minutes, but Zirkel kept the Bears in the game. She made back-to-back diving saves in the 32^nd minute and then stopped a free kick from Missimo just outside the 18-yard box.
            "She had a great first half," Lenard said. "She kept us in it, she was good with her feet. They came out in the second half and they were pressing higher. She's still a pretty young, inexperienced goalkeeper, and I think she needs to recognize that that's happening much sooner in the half and be able to know that we've got to play a little quicker, a little less time on the ball."
            Even after Missimo's penalty-kick goal, the Longhorns kept the pressure on and had four shots in a three-minute stretch. But it was still a 1-0 game until Holly Ward blasted in a goal to the opposite post with just under 13 minutes to play.
            Missimo scored her second goal of the night and 12^th of the season when she rocketed a shot to the near post off a deflected shot by Jilly Shimkin. And then, three minutes later, Ashlyn Miller extended the lead to 4-0 with a shot that went through Zirkel's hands.
            "If we're going to come back and respond with that lack of emotion," Lenard said, "we're going to have problems all season. We're going to have to go back and deal with why our attitudes weren't a little bit different after we got scored on."
            Baylor plays the fourth of six-straight home games when they host UTSA (5-2-2) at 6 p.m. Sunday. The Roadrunners are coming off a 0-0 tie against Tulsa and brings a four-game unbeaten streak into Sunday's matchup, which will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor soccer fell to 16^th-ranked Texas in its conference opener, 4-0, Thursday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.

The Bears and Longhorns battled for all of the first half and went scoreless until the second half. Starting goalkeeper Ashlee Zirkel came up with huge saves in the first half, recording her first in the 21^st minute. In the 32^nd minute, she came up with back-to-back saves to stop Texas' attack and keep the Longhorns off the board.

Tyler Isgrig provided the Bears' first threat in the first half, putting a shot on frame in the 15^th minute, but the Texas goalkeeper came up with the save.

The momentum went to the Longhorns in the second half, with their first goal on a penalty kick after a handball in the box. With the 1-0 lead, Texas was able to find its second, third and fourth goals within the span of nine minutes to give the Longhorns the 4-0 advantage.

Ashley Merrill, Skye Leach and Isgrig were the only three Bears to record a shot in the second half, with Merrill and Isgrig each putting one on frame.

HIGHLIGHTS

Ashley Zirkel had a career-high nine saves
Four Bears combined for the team's seven shots, with Tyler Isgrig leading the way with three
The Bears took six corner kicks
BU held the Longhorns scoreless in the first half

QUOTABLE
Michelle Lenard on the game …
"A 4-0 loss looks like a beat down, but if we fix the ability to control the space, that doesn't happen. And that starts with our backline responding better in the second half, stepping and being more aggressive. Be willing to deal with counter attacks, which Ashlee (Zirkel) can do it because she's fast, she's good off the line. She can play high, that's why she's in this game. And then we don't. We drop, drop, drop, and we just give really good, technical players too much time and space inside our box."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will face UTSA on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m. CT in their last non-conference test of the season.

- BaylorBears.com -