Aug. 22, 2002
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vs. GSA 85 Phoenix Red * Waco, Texas * Sunday, Aug. 25 * 7 p.m.
The Baylor soccer team open the 2002 home season with a scrimmage against GSA 85 Phoenix Red Sunday at 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field. The GSA 85 Phoenix Red, a women's club team from Georgia, are led by head coach Ted Coburn. The squad won the national championship in the under-16 age group in 2000, and finished third in the nation among under-17 squads last season.
Admission to the exhibition will be free, as fans get their first chance to see the 2002 Bears in action. The scrimmage is a preface for the Bears, allowing the team to prepare with live action play before kicking off the regular season Aug. 30 - Sept. 1 with the Baylor Labor Day Classic.
The Bears face Louisiana-Lafayette Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field in the season opener, then square off against Mississippi State Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. in the final game of the classic.
Last season
The story of 2001 for the Baylor soccer team? Injuries, injuries and more injuries.
A team that began the year with 30 players on the roster finished the final game of the season with just 15 players available and healthy to play. Injuries bookended the season; the Bears lost starting goalkeeper Mel Pannell for the year in the season opener with a shoulder injury, and were without starting defenders Melissa Humke and Rachel Kacsmaryk for the Big 12 Tournament due to ankle injuries.
Inbetween, Baylor lost four players with torn ACLs (Tiffany Boshers, Sarah Dearing, Sarah Gardner and Katie Peterson). Backup goalkeeper Emily Koch played most of the season through excruciating back pain which often left her without feeling in her legs before shutting down her game late in the season and possibly ending her career.
Yet, even though all the adversity, the Bears showed flashes of promise while depending on a young team that gained experience as the year moved on. The team won four out of five games early in the season and won four straight at another point later in the year.
Several freshmen stepped up to lead the Baylor offense. Ginny Rosario-Tull led the team in scoring for the season with eight goals and 19 points. Those totals were the most by a Baylor freshman in either category since 1996, when three Bears had higher totals in the program's inaugural season. Rosario-Tull was the first freshman to lead Baylor in either category since Molly Cameron set school records with 32 goals and 75 points in 1996.
Another freshman, April Robertson, finished second on the team with seven goals and 15 points. Rosario-Tull, Robertson, Kristin Ruef and Lori Viggiano each played in all 17 games for the Bears.
For the season, 10 freshmen saw playing time on a squad that began the year with 13 freshmen, 12 sophomores, three juniors and just two freshmen. The young team finished the year with an overall record of 8-10, finishing 4-6 in the Big 12 (seventh place).
Yet, despite the adversity, the Bears are ready to bounce back in 2002 and return to the NCAA postseason. With another year of experience under their belt and a full squad of healthy players, Baylor will be a factor to reckon with in the 2002 Big 12 Conference race.
Baylor Labor Day Classic
For the fourth straight year, the Bears open their home regular season by hosting the Baylor Labor Day Classic. Baylor has compiled a 4-1-1 record in the three previous classics, losing only to then-No. 21 Arizona State last season.
Joining Baylor at this season's Baylor Labor Day Classic are Mississippi State, Louisiana-Lafayette and TCU. The Bears face the Ragin' Cajuns Friday at 7 p.m. and the Bulldogs Sunday at 7 p.m. Mississippi Staet plays TCU Friday at 4:30 p.m., and the Horned Frogs play ULL Sunday at 4:30 p.m. All games will be played at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
Crawley Named Preseason All-Big 12 -- Again
Senior defender Tamura Crawley was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team by the league's coaches for the third straight season in 2002. Crawley earned All-Big 12 second-team honors in 2000 and 2001 after being named to the conference first team in 1999. She has earned Preseason All-Big 12 accolades as a sophomore, junior and now as a senior.
Baylor Picked Seventh in Big 12 in Preseason Poll
Baylor was picked to finish tied for seventh in the Big 12 Conference this season as the league's coaches compiled their annual preseason poll. After advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight a year ago, Texas A&M was picked to win the 2002 Big 12 title, followed by defending conference champion Texas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas. The Bears were picked to tie with Colorado, while Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Texas Tech round out the standings.
The Bears finished the 2001 season in seventh place in the Big 12 and lost in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament to then-No. 9 Nebraska.
Working Their Way Up the Charts
Several current Bears are making their ways up the leaderboards in the Baylor recordbook this season. Most impressively, junior Emily Fukuchi ranks fourth in school history in career goals and eighth in career points. Sophomores April Robertson and Ginny Rosario-Tull have already impacted the career leaderboards, while senior Tamura Crawley is quickly moving up the charts for games played and games started.
Notable records:
Career Points: Emily Fukuchi (8th, 25)
Career Goals: Emily Fukuchi (4th, 10), Ginny Rosario-Tull (9th, 8), April Robertson (10th, 7)
Career Game-Winning Goals: Emily Fukuchi (6th, 3)
Career Game-Winning Assists: Candace Reilly (t-6th, 3), Tamura Crawley (t-8th, 2)
Career Multi-Goal Games: April Robertson (t-4th, 2), Ginny Rosario-Tull (t-4th, 2)
Career Multi-Assist Games: Ryan Lee (t-4th, 2), Kristin Ruef (t-5th, 1)
Consecutive Games Played: Tamura Crawley (t-7th, 59) -- has appeared in every game during her career
Most Games Started: Tamura Crawley (9th, 59)
Bears in the Pros
Former Baylor all-America goalkeeper Dawn Greathouse completed her second season as a member of the Woman's United Soccer Association (WUSA) in 2002. Greathouse, an all-American for Baylor in 1998, spent all of 2001 and part of 2002 season with the Washington Freedom. She appeared in five games for the Freedom early in the season, but was released and signed by the San Jose Cyber Rays, with whom she completed the rest of the season.
Greathouse is one of three Baylor-related players to have participated in the WUSA's first two seasons. Courtney Saunders, a1998 all-American at Baylor, spent the inaugural season with the Philadelphia Charge, while former assistant coach Rebecca Hornbacher was a member of the Boston Breakers in 2001.
Pannell Out for Season
Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Mel Pannell, one of the Bears' top recruits a year ago, will miss her second straight season after reinjuring her right shoulder during the summer. Pannell played in Baylor's season opener last season, but dislocated her shoulder in the 80th minute and had surgery in October to correct the problem.
Pannell worked her way through nine months of rehabilitation, but reinjured her shoulder late in the summer and had total reconstructive surgery in August. The procedure will keep her out of action for at least six months but should allow her to return to the field next spring with no further problems.
Head Coach Nick Cowell
In 2002, head coach Nick Cowell enters his fourth year at the helm of the Baylor soccer team. He has steadily built a program that consistently rates as one of the best in the Big 12 Conference.
In Cowell's first year at Baylor, the team finished 14-7-1 overall and placed fourth in the conference with a 6-3-1 mark. In 2000, the Bears again finshed fourth in the Big 12 and compiled an overall record of 10-6-3. The 2001 season was marred by injuries and saw the Bears finish 8-10 overall (4-6 Big 12, seventh in the league). Under Cowell, the team has made one NCAA appearance (1999) and barely missed out on another (2000).
Prior to coming to Baylor, Cowell spent eight years as head coach at Trinity University in San Antonio. During that time, he led his team to seven straight conference titles, including 49-straight conference victories and six trips to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
At Trinity, Cowell's success resulted in him being named the SCAC Coach of the Year five times. In 1992, he garnered Regional Coach of the Year honors. Prior to his work at Trinity, Cowell was at The College of Wooster where he had a 22-11-4 record in two seasons. He led the Lady Scots to the North Coast Athletic Conference title in 1990. Following that season he was named the NCAC and Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association Coach of the Year.
Cowell Adds Pair of Assistant Coaches
Head coach Nick Cowell welcomed one old friend and one new friend into the Baylor coaching staff for this season as he added assistant coach Courtney Petrie and volunteer assistant coach Rich Stoneman.
In Petrie, Cowell is rejoined by one of his former stars. A 2000 graduate of Trinity, she played two seasons (1997-98) under Cowell at Trinity. During her career at Trinity, Petrie was the starting goalkeeper for the Tigers as they won two conference titles and made three straight NCAA D-III tournament appearances. She held opponents to a 0.24 goals against average in 1999 and compiled a career GAA of 0.36, setting both school and conference records.
Petrie joins the Bears from the University of Akron, where she spent the past season as assistant women's soccer coach. She also spent the past year working with the Greater Akron Premier Club, where she coached the under-14 team and served as goalkeeper coach for the entire club.
Stoneman, meanwhile, becomes the first volunteer assistant to work with the Bears under Cowell. Stoneman played four years of soccer at Oklahoma Christian before graduating in 1999. He participated in MLS tryouts in 1997 as he was invited to combines for the Dallas Burn and Kansas City Wizards, and spent three years playing in the United States International Soccer League with the Oklahoma City Slickers, Tulsa Roughnecks and Carolina Shamrocks.
Stoneman spent the 2000-01 season as assistant women's soccer coach at East Central University in Ada, Okla., as the team advanced to the conference tournament for the first time in team history. He also has extensive experience with club and high school soccer.
Petrie will work specifically with the goalkeepers in addition to assisting with recruiting and other day-to-day office activities, while Stoneman will assist with coaching goalkeepers as well as with video analysis and other training drills. The pair joins second-year assistant coach Rj. Anderson on the staff.
Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field
The 2002 season marks the fourth year for the Baylor soccer team at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field. The former Baylor Soccer Stadium was retitled during the 2000 season in honor of the late Betty Lou Mays of Amarillo, Texas. Mrs. Mays was the wife of Troy Mays, a 1945 graduate of Baylor; the two were longtime supporters of Baylor athletics.
The stadium seats 3,000 fans, making it the largest soccer-only facility in the Big 12. Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field is is set in the plush backdrop of the Brazos River on University Parks Drive. The field is part of the Jim and Julie Turner Riverfront Athletic Park, which includes the Baylor Ballpark, Getterman Stadium and the new Baylor Tennis Center. All four venues share the parking lot with the Ferrell Special Events Center.
