Sept. 25, 2002
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Baylor Soccer (6-2)
at Oklahoma (6-2)
Friday, Sept. 27 (7:30 p.m.) * Norman, Okla.
at Oklahoma State (8-0)
Sunday, Sept. 29 (1 p.m.) * Stillwater, Okla.
The Baylor soccer team begins Big 12 Conference play this weekend on the road, heading up Interstate 35 to face Oklahoma Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Norman and Oklahoma State Sunday at 1 p.m. in Stillwater.
At 6-2, the Bears have tied their best start to a season under head coach Nick Cowell. The 1999 squad, Cowell's first team at Baylor, also started the season 6-2 and finished the year 14-7-1 overall.
Like Baylor, Oklahoma begins the week with a 6-2 record, but the Sooners begin Big 12 play on a two-game slide. Oklahoma began the season 6-0 but lost twice last weekend at the Stanford Nike Invitational, falling by identical 4-0 scores to second-ranked Stanford and sixth-ranked Santa Clara.
Junior Logan Womack, a Preseason all-Big 12 selection, and senior Krissy Dawson are tied for the team lead with eight points apiece. Womack leads the Sooners with four goals, while Dawson and freshman Becky Nelson top the squad with two assists each. Sophomore Catherine Wade has started every game in goal this season and had allowed just one goal through the first six games before giving up eight goals this weekend.
Baylor is 3-1-1 all-time against Oklahoma (1-1-1 in Norman). The Bears are 2-0-1 against the Sooners under Cowell, including last season's 3-0 Baylor victory in Waco. Ryan Lee scored twice, and Tamura Crawley's goal broke a 1-1 tie with just five minutes to go.
Oklahoma State begins Big 12 play as the only conference team with an undefeated record. At 8-0, the Cowgirls enter conference play with a perfect record for the first time in program history. OSU hosts Texas Tech Friday at 7 p.m. before playing Baylor on Sunday.
Sophomore Jolene Schweitzer leads the Cowgirls in scoring with five goals and 12 points through eight games. Another sophomore, Nikki Wojtowicz, tops the team in assists with seven. Senior Kat Doud has started all eight games in goal and allowed just three goals for a 0.41 GAA.
The Bears have never lost to the Cowgirls; Baylor is 5-0-1 all-time against Oklahoma State, with the lone tie coming in the Bears' first-ever Big 12 game in 1996. Last season, Ginny Rosario-Tull scored twice and Janae Potter added an overtime goal to pull out the 3-2 win in Waco.
Last Time Out
After battling favored SMU to a 2-2 tie through halftime, Baylor suffered two key defensive letdowns in the second half that each led to Mustang goals, allowing visiting SMU to slip out of town with a 4-2 win over the Bears Friday night.
The loss snapped an eight-game home winning streak for the Bears. Junior Kim Harvey's hat trick fueled the SMU victory. Baylor led twice, at 1-0 and 2-1, but the Mustangs held Baylor scoreless in the second half to pull out the win despite the fact that Baylor outshot SMU 18-13 on the night, the seventh time in eight games the Bears have outshot their opponents.
Junior Ryan Lee and redshirt freshman Tiffany Boshers each had goals in the first half. With 21:35 remaining in the second half, sophomore April Robertson's apparent go-ahead goal was waved off when a Baylor player was whistled offsides.
Crawley Charging Baylor Attack
Three-time All-Big 12 defender Tamura Crawley has contributed more to the Bears than just anchoring their defense early this season. Through eight games, Crawley is one goal and two assists shy of the team lead in each category -- despite having started each game on defense and spending only limited time at the front.
On the road at Rice (9/6), Crawley scored her first goal of the year, tying the game at 1-1 with just over 11 minutes to go; the Bears went on to win in overtime. Two days later against Southwest Texas, she repeated the feat, scoring with 8:13 left to again tie the game and force overtime. In the second overtime period, Crawley assisted on the game-winning goal.
Her efforts for the week (9/2-9/8) earned her Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week and Soccer America National Team of the Week honors.
Fukuchi Forging Ahead
With 31 career points, junior Emily Fukuchi has passed former Bear teammates Rachel Kacsmaryk and Alyson Miles to move into sixth place on the Baylor career scoring list. Next up: Britt Talley, who scored 33 points between 1996 and 1999. Fukuchi is already fourth all-time in career goals, behind only Courtney Saunders, Molly Cameron and Nikki Hales.
Fukuchi finished second on the team in goals and points as a freshman in 2000, and through five games this season, is tied for the team lead in goals and ranks second in points.
Ruef Roughing Up Opponents
After finishing her rookie season tied for sixth on the squad in scoring with six points (two goals, two assists), sophomore forward Kristin Ruef notched her first goal and assist of the season on Opening Day against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Through eight games this season, Ruef is tied for the team lead in points and goals. Through games of Sept. 16, she led the Big 12 Conference in shots, having taken 27 shots (18 shots on goal) in the team's first seven games. To put that in perspective, Candace Reilly led the Bears in shots last season with 35 shots in 18 games.
Boshers Making Up For Lost Time
After sitting out all of 2001 with a torn ACL, redshirt freshman Tiffany Boshers is making up for lost time this season. Through eight games, she is tied for the team lead with three goals and seven points.
Baylor Keepers Double Your Pleasure in Debuts
Each of the Bears' three goalkeepers this season have performed splendidly in their debuts.
Freshman Tanya Sena shut out Louisiana-Lafayette on opening day, making her the first Bear in school history to record a shutout in her first collegiate appearance -- and all while playing with a cast on her right hand, thanks to a broken thumb.
Fellow freshman Morgan Pinter made her debut off the bench against McNeese State (9/11) and finished off a 6-0 shutout of the Cowboys. Pinter allowed no goals in the final 18:39.
Junior transfer Monica Housden shut out Northern Arizona in her first appearance as a Bear (9/15), leading Baylor to a 2-0 win. Housden recorded two saves while playing the entire 90 minutes.
Bears Among Big 12 Statistical Leaders
As a team, Baylor leads the Big 12 in shots, ranks second in goals and is fourth in points and assists, through games of September 23.
Baylor individuals among the Big 12 leaders, through games of September 23:
Tiffany Boshers: 5th in shots (30), 6th in shots per game (3.75), t-8th in goals (3)
Emily Fukuchi: t-8th in goals (3)
Monica Housden: t-2nd in shutouts per game (0.50), t-6th in shutouts (1)
Ginny Rosario-Tull: 7th in shots (28), t-7th in assists (3), t-9th in assists per game (0.38), 10th in shots per game (3.50)
Kristin Ruef: 6th in shots (29), t-3rd in GWG (2), t-8th in goals (3), 8th in shots per game (3.62)
Tanya Sena: 8th in saves (21), t-7th in saves per game (3.00), t-6th in shutouts (1), 6th in GAA (1.07)
Bears Share in Scoring
If this year's Baylor team knows how to do one thing, it's share. Through eight games, 10 different Bears have combined to score the team's 20 goals. Tiffany Boshers, Emily Fukuchi and Kristin Ruef lead the team with three goals apiece. Four other players have two goals apiece.
The same phenomenon can be found in the assist category; nine players have at least one assist. Ginny Rosario-Tull leads the Bears with three assists.
Boshers and Ruef lead the team with seven points each; four other Bears each have five or six points, and three more have four points apiece.
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 sixth in career points. Sophomores April Robertson and Ginny Rosario-Tull have already impacted the career leaderboards, and senior Tamura Crawley is quickly moving up the charts for games played and games started.
Notable records:
Career Points: Emily Fukuchi (6th, 31)
Career Shots: Candace Reilly (7th, 75)
Career Goals: Emily Fukuchi (4th, 13), Ginny Rosario-Tull (t-5th, 9), Whitney Barrett (10th, 8)
Career Multi-Goal Games: Emily Fukuchi (t-4th, 2), April Robertson (t-4th, 2), Ginny Rosario-Tull (t-4th, 2)
Career Multi-Assist Games: Ryan Lee (t-4th, 2), Kate Hensman (t-5th, 1) Kristin Ruef (t-5th, 1)
Career Game-Winning Goals: Emily Fukuchi (t-4th, 4)
Career Game-Winning Assists: Candace Reilly (6th, 4), Tamura Crawley (t-7th, 3), Emily Fukuchi (t-10th, 2)
Most Games Started, Career: Tamura Crawley (8th, 66)
Consecutive Games Played: Tamura Crawley (5th, 67) -- has appeared in every game during her career
Bears Add Goalie Housden to Stable
After much haggling, the Bears welcomed junior goalkeeper Monica Housden to the team in week two of the season. Housden, a junior transfer from North Texas, is coming off a season in which she recorded a 0.83 goals-against average and earned second team All-Sun Belt Conference honors.
In two seasons with the Mean Green, Housden appeared in 37 of team's 40 games. She leaves North Texas as the program's career leader in shutouts (12.5) and saves (202). A junior from Denton, Texas, Housden started 21 of her team's 22 games as a true freshman in 2000 and notched back-to-back shutouts against Centenary and Texas Tech in her first two collegiate games. Her eight shutouts as a rookie were a team single-season record. She also voted a team co-captain as a sophomore.
Housden has also been selected to try out for the Mexico National Team World Cup Qualifiers in late October, which may cause her to miss some of the Bears' late season games.
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.
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 Retires
Redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Mel Pannell, one of the Bears' top recruits a year ago, has retired after learning that she would 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 would have kept her out of action for at least six months before any return to action could have been considered.
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 began the 2002 season ranked 19th in career winning percentage and 25th in career wins among active coaches at four-year colleges, with a career record of 171-64-16 (.713).
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.
BaylorBears.com
Baylor's official athletic web site can be found at www.BaylorBears.com. The comprehensive site, which includes releases, photos, biographical sketches and audio broadcasts, is part of the Official College Sports Network. OCSN currently hosts sites for more than 100 universities, including eight Big 12 schools.
Live scoring updates are available on BaylorBears.com for all Baylor soccer home games and select road games.
Inside Baylor Sports
"Inside Baylor Sports", a half-hour look at the world of Baylor athletics, airs weekly throughout Central Texas and the region. The program, co-hosted by John Morris and Lori Scott-Fogleman, airs on KCEN-TV Channel 6, Fox Sports Net Southwest and the College Channel (Waco cable channel 18). KCEN carries the show at 10:30 p.m. Sundays, and it airs at 1 p.m. Wednesdays on FSN Southwest.
