SOC Defeats UTSA, 1-0

Sunday, September 17

Waco, Texas

6PM

Baylor

UTSA

SOC Defeats UTSA, 1-0

9/17/2023 9:49:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score Box Score

Merrill nets her seventh goal of the season

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor soccer defeated UTSA, 1-0, Sunday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.

The Bears started the game creating chances off of two headers from Hallie Augustyn, before Natalie Vatter put a shot on goal in the 19^th minute. Vatter's shot created a corner-kick opportunity for BU and Tyler Isgrig fed the ball to the back post, where Ashley Merrill headed it in for her seventh goal of the season.

All three of the Bears' corner kicks came during the first half, as BU was able to stop the Roadrunners from capitalizing on five of their own corners.

Three more Baylor players took shots to close out the first 45, but no more goals came for the Bears as they carried the 1-0 advantage to the second half.

In a physical second half, which saw four yellow cards given, the Bears only got off three shots. While the Roadrunners took nine second-half shots, goalkeeper Makinzie Short was only forced to make two saves.

Keeping UTSA off the board, the Bears picked up their fifth shutout of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS

BU had 11 shots from eight different Bears
Tyler Isgrig, Ashley Merrill and Hallie Augustyn all recorded two shots
Merrill netted her seventh goal of the season, one goal away from doubling her goal total from the 2022 season
Baylor remains unbeaten against UTSA with an all-time series record of 11-0-1
BU picked up its fifth shutout of the season

QUOTABLE
Michelle Lenard on the game …
"I think a high level of pressure was making our players uncomfortable holding the ball as long as they needed to. Or when they did hold the ball to make a quick simple pass we just didn't execute in those moments. We keep telling our players, we're going to see more of this. A lot of teams in the Big 12 are going to play that way: high pressure, very physical, very direct. So, it was not always enjoyable for me personally, I thought it could be a little bit better, but it was an important experience that we have a lot to learn from."

Hallie Augustyn on the last nonconference game …
"It's definitely coming together. We still have things to improve on, but everything's starting to come together. So, it's nice."

Makinzie Short on her performance in goal …
"Yeah, I think I have a lot of faith in our back line. I think we were winning the balls in the air really well today and that's something we really harped on this week because of our opponent, and we were doing that really well. So, I had confidence in our back line. One moment can change the game, but we were super strong in the game."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bears will host No. 1 BYU on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m., before closing out their six-game home stand against Texas Tech on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 1 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field.

- BaylorBears.com -