Sept. 26, 2024 • 8 p.m. CT • Watch: ESPN+ • Boulder, Colo. • Prentup Field Sept. 29, 2024 • 1 p.m. CT • Watch: ESPN+ • Waco, Texas • Betty Lou Mays Field
 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
 
Even during a four-game winless stretch that included three shutout losses, Baylor soccer coach Michelle Lenard knew that eventually the goals would come.
 
Once that dam broke, the floodgates opened up as the Bears (6-4-1, 1-2-0) got goals from four different players in a convincing 4-0 win over the Houston Cougars on Sunday.
 
"Looking back at the previous few games, we knew that we had created enough opportunities that we should have been scoring," Lenard said. "And we know, eventually, that will change. It was nice to have that kind of all come together at once: get a good conference win, score four goals. We had several other good chances, even late in the game, as well. That was important. But what's more important right now is that we show some consistency."
 
In arguably its most challenging stretch of the season, Baylor will face 16^th-ranked Colorado (9-1-0, 3-0-0) at 8 p.m. CT Thursday night in Boulder, followed by No. 22 TCU (7-2-1, 2-0-1) Sunday afternoon at Betty Lou Mays Field and 25^th-ranked Texas Tech (7-2-1, 2-0-1) the following Friday, Oct. 4, in Lubbock.
 
"There are so many good teams in our conference," Lenard said. "And if you look at the games we lost, either of those games could have gone the other way. I don't think anyone gets through the season undefeated. I'd be surprised if that happens. I think it's wide open."
 
Colorado returns to the league after spending the previous 13 years in the Pac-12, joining fellow newcomers Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. The Bears are 6-7-3 all-time against the Buffaloes, losing the last meeting, 1-0, on Sept. 8, 2019, also in Boulder.
 
"They have great athletes. They've got some strong kids in their front line that we're going to have to manage and deal with and make sure we provide some cover," Lenard said. "They haven't shown that they possess the ball a ton, but when they do get on the ball, they're very dangerous in the counter-attack moments in creating opportunities going forward."
 
The Buffs average two goals per game and are led by forwards Shyra James and Hope Leyba with five goals apiece.
 
Baylor sophomore defender Natalie Vatter from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, said "it's going home for me." Three of Colorado's players were teammates of Vatter with the Real Colorado club team, goalkeeper Jordan Nytes and midfielders Emerson Layne and Juliauna Hayward.
 
"Growing up, I'd always go to all the games and support them. I have a ton of photos of me when I was little of me in Colorado shirts," Vatter said. "I've been to the field several times and been around the program and the coaches and all that."
 
With goals by Hallie Augustyn, Tyler Isgrig, Ashley Merrill and Callie Conrad against Houston, the Bears are hoping to carry that momentum into the next three games.
 
"I think we've all felt it coming," said sophomore forward Skylar Zinnecker, "that every game we're knocking on the door and we're on the cusp of something great. That's why it was so frustrating whenever we haven't . . . because we know that this is a good team and we're capable of so much. I think just kind of turning that corner is definitely a big deal."
 
Like the remainder of the games on the schedule, Thursday's matchup against Colorado will be streamed by ESPN+.
 

STORY LINES

• Baylor is readying for a contest at Colorado on Thursday, Sept. 26, before returning home to host TCU on Sunday, Sept. 29.
• 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 6-4-1 to open the season, with three of BU's losses coming against ranked opponents (No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 22 Iowa and No. 15 Oklahoma State). The Bears most recently took down conference foe Houston, 4-0. 
• Baylor has a 33 person roster this season and features 25 returners and eight newcomers. 
• 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.
• Twenty-three Bears have seen playing time so far this season with Hallie Augustyn leading the way with 976 minutes played. 
• Tyler Isgrig leads the Bears so far this season in points with 13, off of four goals and five assists. She has played the fourth most minutes so far this season (898). 
• Isgrig leads the Big 12 with 45 shots on the season so far and is fourth in shots per game with 4.09. She is also tied for first in assists (5) and second in assists per game (.45) in the Big 12. 
• Joining Isgrig with multiple goals this season are Ashley Merrill, Hallie Augustyn and Callie Conrad, while Hannah Augustyn and Kai Hayes each have one goal. 
• In the Bears' 4-0 win over the Cougars, four different Bears recorded a goal. That marked BU's first game with four different goal scorers since Sept. 10, 2023. 
• Azul Alvarez posted her fourth shutout win of the season last week. She has also made a career-high eight saves twice this season, once against Iowa and once against Arizona. 
• Alvarez and Conrad have picked up the Bears' only Big 12 conference weekly award so far this season, being named Goalkeeper and Offensive Player of the Week (8/28). 
• Baylor is 6-7-3 all time against Colorado, with the last meeting happening on Sept. 8, 2019, when the Bears fell, 1-0. 
• Baylor holds the all-time record over TCU, 14-4-4, after falling to the Horned Frogs last season, 1-0, in Fort Worth.