BAYLOR vs. SMU
Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. CT
Betty Lou Mays Field
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+
 
BAYLOR vs ACU
Sunday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. CT
Betty Lou Mays Field
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+

BAYLOR BEARS
2023 Record: 3-1-1
Head Coach: Michelle Lenard (North Texas, 2003)
Career Record: 208-89-28 (16th season)
BU Record: 7-12-3 (2nd season)
 
SMU MUSTANGS
2023 Record: 2-2-0
Head Coach: Nicole Nelson (Oklahoma City, 1997)
Career Record: 12-6-5 (2nd season)
SMU Record: 174-70-20 (9th season)
 
ACU WILDCATS
2023 Record: 4-1-1
Head Coach: Stephen Salas (Hardin-Simmons, 2012)
Career Record: 4-1-1 (1st season)
ACU Record: 4-1-1 (1st season)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            After surviving a difficult opening schedule that included four of its first five on the road, Baylor soccer (3-1-1) opens a six-game homestand with a matchup against SMU (2-2-0) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Betty Lou Mays Field.
            "I think we're all really excited to be home," said freshman defender Natalie Vatter, who redshirted at Ole Miss last year before transferring to Baylor. "We've had a lot of away games, and it's always fun to play in front of our fans and be back at home."
            With back-to-back shutouts against Louisiana Tech (3-0) and Butler (2-0), Baylor's defense has not allowed a goal in 195 minutes and ranks second in the Big 12 with a 0.60 goals-against average. Two weeks ago, Texas A&M scored a penalty-kick goal at the 74:59 mark in a 1-1 tie in College Station.
            While the Bears are riding a two-game winning streak, SMU had its own two-game winning streak snapped with a 6-0 loss to 17^th-ranked Texas in a Sunday game that saw the Longhorns net four first-half goals.
            "They had a lot of turnover in their roster last year. They graduated some really key players," second-year Baylor head coach Michelle Lenard said. "I think they're kind of in this growing phase as well, where now they have a couple of spots that maybe are not as strong as they were last year. But they also have some very talented players, they can cause us problems."
            The similarities between the two teams don't begin and end with young rosters. SMU likes to "possess the ball, in some ways very similar to us," Lenard said. Freshman forward Nyah Rose leads the Mustangs with four goals, including a hat trick in a 3-1 win over SFA.
            "We feel very well-suited to play against that style of play," Lenard said. "Since it's similar to ours, we feel like we know the types of things that cause problems for us that could also cause problems for them. And we know how to defend against that style of play as well. It should be a really good matchup and one that we feel confident we can win."
            That was a different story in Sunday's 2-0 win over Butler, when the Bulldogs outshot the Bears, 13-1, in the second half after giving up a pair of first-half goals.
            "They kind of opened us up, and we had to solve the problems on the go and in the game," said sophomore midfielder Skye Leach, who played all 90 minutes versus Butler. "I think that not only helped us in the game, but we can use that in the future and obviously work on that. I think every challenge you go through just makes us stronger."
            Lenard said the Bears were "getting opened up" because of "some tactical mismatches in that game that were challenging for us to solve."
            "It was a system of play that really contradicted ours, so to speak," Lenard said. "There were some major mismatches all over the field for both teams. And it was a matter of trying to figure out who was going to change, who was going to adjust. If I could go back and play them, I would set us up a little bit differently in certain phases of play that would give our players more opportunities, especially in the attacking half."
            Even after back-to-back shutout victories, Lenard said Baylor is still trying to find consistency from day to day and game to game.
            "Can we come out and be the same team every day?" she said. "It doesn't matter our opponent, it doesn't matter how many people are in the stands, the game, conference, non-conference, home or away, can we be the same team day-in and day-out. I think we've established, for the most part, the identity that the way we play is very consistent right now. What we're lacking is consistency in our scoring threat. It ebbs and flows too much for me."
            TCU transfer Tyler Isgrig has a team-leading three assists and shares the team lead in goals (2) with freshman Skylar Zinnecker and senior midfielder Ashley Merrill.
            "If we can continue to create chances late into the game, which a lot of that is we're making substitutions, we have a lot of younger players coming into the match toward the end of each half," Lenard said.
            "They just need more time. They're freshmen, they're getting their first college minutes ever. And I think as they get more time, we're going to see our team be more dangerous toward the end of each half, because some of them are tremendous scoring threats. They just need more experience at this level."
            Wrapping up the week, the Bears will host ACU (4-1-1) at 7 p.m. Sunday. The six-game homestand also includes matchups against 17^th-ranked Texas (5-1-0) next Thursday, Sept. 14, and No. 1 BYU (6-0-0) the following Thursday, Sept. 21.
            "It's something that it's important to us that we don't back away from or feel intimidated by," Lenard said. "While a lot of people might be concerned about a team like that coming into their conference, or on their schedule, for me it's really exciting. That's where we want to go, so I'm excited to play that game."
            Including Thursday, all six games of the homestand will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
 
STORY LINES

• Baylor soccer is beginning a six-game homestand at Betty Lous Mays Field this week. They will kick things off on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m., before facing Abilene Christian on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m.
• 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 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.
• The Bears are off to their best start to a season since the 2019 campaign, sporting a 3-1-1 record.
• With consecutive shutouts in wins over Butler and Louisiana Tech last week, the Bears have not allowed a goal in 195 minutes and on the year, sports a 0.60 goals-against average, ranking second in the Big 12.
• Six different players have scored this season as Baylor has used a balanced offensive attack and a stifling defensive effort to total nine goals and three shutouts.
• This is the Bears first season with back-to-back shutouts since the 2021 season.
• In the 27 seasons of Baylor women's soccer, the Bears have posted three or more shutouts in the first 5 games on five occasions, including this season.
• Three of the Bears first four goals this season were scored by newcomers, freshman Skylar Zinnecker and Callie Conrad and another from transfer Tyler Isgrig. Conrad also recorded an assist in the first week of play, making her the first freshman to score points in the in each of the Bears first two games of a season since Maddie Algya and Taylor Moon did so in 2018.
• Goalkeepers Makinzie Short and Ashlee Zirkel have split time in goal this season.
• The Bears opened the season against Oregon, where they recorded 22 shots, the most in a game since Sept. 16, 2021, versus SFA (24).
• Tyler Isgrig leads the Bears so far this season with two goals, three assists and seven points. She is followed by Skylar Zinnecker and Ashley Merrill who both have two goals as well. 
• Natalie Vatter, Callie Conrad and Jenna Patterson all have two assists on the season.
• In the past 50 games at home, Baylor has a record of 29-12-9, that's good for a .670 winning percentage that dates back to the end of the 2017 season.
• BU is 5-8-0 all-time against SMU, with the last contest on Sept. 18, 2022, when the Bears lost 1-0, but the Bears have won four of the past five meetings. Four of those five meetings have also been decided by one goal.
• The Bears are 2-0-1 all-time against ACU, with the last meeting between these two teams occurring on Sept. 15, 2019, when they tied, 1-1.