SOC Prepares for Season Opener

Thursday, August 15

Starkville, Miss.

6:30PM

Baylor

Mississippi State

SOC Prepares for Season Opener

8/14/2024 6:35:00 PM | Soccer

Game Notes

Bears to face Mississippi State on the road, return home to host St. Bonaventure

BAYLOR (0-0) at No. 18 MISSISSIPPI STATE (0-0)

Aug. 15, 2024 • 6:30 p.m. CT • Watch: SEC Network + • Starkville, Miss. • MSU Soccer Field

BAYLOR (0-0) vs ST BONAVENTURE (0-0)

Aug. 18, 2024 • 7 p.m. CT • Watch: ESPN+ • Waco, Texas • Batty Lou Mays Field

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Baylor coach Michelle Lenard could have taken the easy way out and scheduled in a few patsies with an already challenging Big 12 slate that includes a third-ranked BYU team coming off a trip to the Women's College Cup and a pair of newcomers that made last year's NCAA Tournament.

Instead, the Bears will open the season with 18^th-ranked Mississippi State at 6:30 p.m. CT Thursday at MSU Soccer Field in Starkville, Miss., and will also play No. 25 Texas A&M, defending Big Ten champion Iowa and a Portland team that is a consistent NCAA Tournament team.

"In some cases, we're still returning trips from two, three years ago," Lenard said. "Iowa is an example of a trip we owe prior to us even arriving at Baylor. (Mississippi State) is on here because obviously they're a ranked opponent. We need to play ranked opponents, especially in non-conference, to get ready, but also to give us a shot at an NCAA Tournament bid. Them and A&M, those are teams that have been ranked . . . so we need them on our schedule."

Fifth-year senior forward Ashley Merrill, who was fifth in the Big 12 last year with 12 goals, said the Bears could have played teams "that we beat 7-0 every single year, but I think it's nice that we're not going to be okay with being average."

"Playing these hard teams is what's going to make us good, what's going to get us through," Merrill said. "I think it sets the tone that we're not going be average. We're going to play these hard teams and we're going to try to beat these hard teams."

Baylor returns nine starters from a 9-7-3 team that finished eighth in the conference, losing to Cincinnati, 3-2, in the opening round of the Big 12 Championship in Round Rock. TCU transfer Tyler Isgrig, a preseason All-Big 12 pick, scored six goals and ranked among the league leaders with nine assists.

"I was just super excited that I was able to get some recognition," said Isgrig, who transferred from TCU last year, "because even though we didn't make it as far as we hoped as a team, I still thought there were a lot of good points. It's good that people are starting to recognize us more. That's part of the rebuilding stage that we can bring into the season."

Also returning from last season are junior defenders Hallie and Hannah Augustyn, senior defender Ava Colberg, junior midfielder Skye Leach, sophomore forward Skylar Zinnecker and junior goalkeeper Ashlee Zirkel. The Bears lost fifth-year senior center back Blythe Obar to a season-ending ACL injury early in the spring semester, leaving them with a huge void that was filled by Marissa Gray.

A sixth-year player who hasn't played in an in-season game since 2019, Gray was out of school and working full-time last year before Lenard asked her about coming back.

"Oh my gosh, that was the best thing," Merrill said. "I didn't play with Marissa, but I was so excited when I heard she was coming back. But soccer aspect, I did not know she was that good. She's what we needed this year, especially with losing Blythe, too, and older girl in the back line. Not that she can replace Blythe, no one can replace Blythe. But Marissa definitely replaced what we needed in that back line. We needed an upperclassman, and she stepped up."

Zirkel started 12 games in goal last season, making 49 saves and registering six wins and a 1.48 goals-against average. But TCU transfer Azul Alvarez will get the start in the season opener.

"All three of our goalkeepers continue to grow and get better," Lenard said. "Azul will start against Mississippi State, and we'll see from there kind of what happens. But Ashlee has continue to improve with the competition from Azul and (sophomore Riley Franklin) as well. We'll see as the season moves on."

Macey Hodge, a returning first-team All-SEC pick, is one of five Mississippi State players on the prestigious SEC Preseason Watch List, along with Maddy Anderson, Rylie Combs, Hannah Johnson and Aitana Martinez-Montoya.

Last year, the Bulldogs were 12-6-5 and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Stanford, 2-0.

"I think that's really good for us, even though it's the first game and sometimes it can be a little scary seeing it all come together," Isgrig said. "I think that coming from the spring season, we did a really good job, especially against Arkansas and other Power 4 schools. I think it's a really good challenge for us, but also a chance for us to bring our style and our game."

Baylor returns home to host St. Bonaventure at 7 p.m. Sunday at Betty Lou Mays Field. The Bonnies, who open Thursday night at Buffalo, were 3-8-6 last season under first-year head coach Donny George.

STORY LINES

Baylor opens its 2024 season on the road with a match against Mississippi State on Thursday before returning home to face St. Bonaventure in its home opener on Sunday. The Bears are starting their season on the road for only the 10th time in program history and are 4-4-1 in those contests.
The 2024 season marks the 28th 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 third 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 11 of the 15 other opponents this season. The Bears will face all four of the new schools, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. BU will not face Cincinnati, UCF, Kansas or Kansas State in regular season play.
The Bears are coming off a 2023 campaign that featured a 9-7-3 record and finished eighth in the conference.
Baylor has a 33 person roster this season and features 25 returners and eight newcomers.
BU has nine starters returning, Hallie Augustyn, Hannah Augustyn, Ava Colberg, Skye Leach, Ashley Merrill, Blythe Obar, Tyler Isgrig, Skylar Zinnecker and Ashlee Zirkel.
Baylor lost just two starters from the 2023 squad.
Joining the 2023 squad are two transfers, goalkeeper Azul Alvarez (TCU) and midfielder Kai Hayes (UNC).
The six incoming freshmen are, Alysiah Lockette, Paisley Mabra, Caelan DeBolt, Jade Martinez, Madison Encinas and Hilary Washington.
Returning to the squad for the first time since the 2022 season in fifth-year Marissa Gray. After working for the past year and applying to PT school, Gray re-joined the Bears to use her fifth year of eligibility. She hasn't seen playing time since the 2019 season due to injury but returns to the pitch as a veteran on the backline.
This season the Bears roster features two international student-athletes for the first time since the 2017 season. Salma Simonin returns to Baylor from Manchester, United Kingdom and Hilary Washington joins the Bears from Wellesley, Ontario, Canada.
BU faced UTSA in a preseason exhibition match and shutout the Roadrunners 3-0. In the three 30-minute period format, Ashley Merrill picked up where she left off last season, scoring two of the Bears goals in the preseason contest. Also finding the back of the net against UTSA was sophomore, Theresa McCullough.
Merrill was the team's leading point scorer last season with 25 points from 12 goals and one assist. With her 12 goals, Merrill scored the most goals from an individual player in a single season since Dana Larsen in 2012.
The Bears are 1-0 all-time against Mississippi State, with the only meeting between the two squads coming on Sept. 1, 2022, when BU won 2-1.
BU's and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies will be facing off for the first time in the program's history on Sunday at Betty Lou Mays Field.