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NOTING THIS WEEKEND
• Baylor is 4-4-1 all-time against Texas A&M and is 4-5-1 against Texas. Both squads defeated the Bears last season.
• Baylor's Tiffany Boshers will be forced to sit out the contest against Texas A&M after receiving two yellow cards against UC Irvine. BEARS HOST AGGIES AND LONGHORNS THIS WEEKEND
WACO, Texas-The Baylor soccer team (3-3-1) opens conference play against a pair of nationally-ranked opponents this week as the Bears host No. 14 Texas A&M (5-3-0, 1-0) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24, before facing No. 20 Texas (4-3-0, 0-1) at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26.
"We have been looking forward to this weekend since the start of the season," head coach George Van Linder said. "Texas A&M and Texas present tremendous challenges and we will have to be ready to play as well as we can in order to win. I think our team is ready for the challenge."
Texas A&M, who had one of the highest ranked recruiting classes in the country this season, is coming off a 1-0 loss at the hands of No. 12 UCLA. The Aggies are off to a 1-0 start in conference play; however, as they defeated Texas 3-1 in front of a Big 12 Conference record crowd of 5,384 on Friday, Sept. 10.
Texas A&M is led by Christina Echavarry and Ashlee Pistorius who both have five goals on the season. Echavarry has also added two assists on the season to lead the team with 12 points.
The Longhorns enter the contest with the Bears after a 3-1 loss to No. 6 Portland. Texas is led by Kelly Wilson, who leads the team in goals (7), assists (3) and points (17). Kelsey Carpenter has also added three goals for the Longhorns this season.
Both series have been close throughout the years as the Longhorns own a 5-4-1 edge in the series while the Bears-Aggies series is tied at 4-4-1. Last season, Baylor dropped a 4-0 decision at Texas before falling at Texas A&M 3-0.
Tickets for each contest are $5 for adults and $3 for children and can be purchased through the Baylor Ticket Office by calling 1-800-BAYLOR-U or 710-1000.
LAST TIME OUT - BEARS RALLY TO DEFEAT UC IRVINE
A pair of goals by Baylor's Margaret Kaderli proved to be enough as the Bears soccer team defeated UC Irvine 2-1 in action at Betty Lou Mays Field. With the win, Baylor evened its record at 3-3-1 on the season as the Anteaters fell to 3-4-1 with the loss. Baylor fell down early on a goal by UC Irvine's Lauryn Birkinshaw in the 11th minute. Birkinshaw corralled a loose ball and was able to drive down the field and beat Baylor goalie Ashley Holder with a shot into the lower right-hand corner of the net to give the Anteaters an early 1-0 lead. The Bears responded ten minutes later, however, as Kaderli took a cross off the foot of forward Anna Schuch and headed it into the back of the net from five yards out to tie the game in the 21st minute. Brittani Zonker was also credited with an assist on the goal as her pass to Schuch set-up the goal-scoring play. After heading into halftime with the score tied at 1-1, Baylor was forced to play a person down for the final 15 minutes of the match as midfielder Tiffany Boshers was whistled for her second yellow card. Despite the disadvantage, Baylor kept the pressure on the UC Irvine defense as Kaderli scored the game-winner in the 83rd minute. The freshman midfielder took a pass from Jennifer Martin and was able to beat UC Irvine goalie Marissa Welliver with a low shot for her second goal of the game and third of the season. Baylor prevented the Anteaters from having another good scoring opportunity and held on for their third victory of the season.
Holder made three saves to record the win for the Bears while Welliver recorded five stops in the loss. The game was even throughout as both teams recorded 13 shots and two corner kicks during the contest.
WORKING THEIR WAY UP THE CHARTS
Several Bears are aiming to continue making their way up the leaderboards in the Baylor recordbook in 2004. Most notably, senior Ginny Rosario-Tull begins the year ranked fourth in school history in career goals and tied for fifth in career points.
Notable records:
Career Points: Ginny Rosario-Tull (4th, 51)
Career Shots: Ginny Rosario-Tull (5th, 167)
Career Goals: Ginny Rosario-Tull (4th, 21), April Robertson (t-7th, 9), Kristin Ruef (6th, 11), Tiffany Boshers (t-7th, 9)
Career Multi-Goal Games: Margaret Kaderli (7th, 1), April Robertson (t-5th, 2), Ginny Rosario-Tull (4th, 4)
Career Multi-Assist Games: Kristin Ruef (t-5th, 1), Tiffany Boshers (t-5th, 1), April Robertson (t-5th, 1), Ginny Rosario-Tull (t-5th, 1), Anna Schuch (t-5th, 1)
Career Assists: Ginny Rosario-Tull (t-8th, 9)
Career Game-Winning Goals: April Robertson (7th, 3), Ginny Rosario-Tull (7th, 3), Kristin Ruef (t-8th, 2)
Career Game-Winning Assists: Brittani Zonker (t-8th, 3) Transfer sophomore forward Anna Scuch has made an immediate impact in her first few games as a Bear. The transfer from Saint Louis currently tied for the team lead in goals (3) and assists(3) and leads the team in points (9). She is among the leaders in the conference in each of the categories as she currently ranks tied for sixth in goals, fourth in assists and sixth in assists. Schuch also ranks third in the conference in points per game.
The sophomore had her best game as a Bear in the win over TCU. In the 5-2 victory over the Horned Frogs, Schuch scored a goal an added two assists as Baylor improved to 2-2-1 on the season.
NEWCOMERS PROVIDING A SPARK
The 2004 season has seen newcomers play a prominent roll in the success of the Baylor soccer team. So far this year, six players new to the Baylor soccer team have seen action in every game, including five who have started in each contest. Baylor's top two goal scorers on the season are new to the Bears, as
Anna Schuch and
Margaret Kaderli lead the way with three goals each on the season. Transfer
Jennifer Martin has also had an impact on the offensive side of the ball as the junior is tied for second on the team with two assists.
Newcomers have had a tremendous impact on the defensive side of the ball as well. Baylor freshman
Ashley Holder has started in goal every game for the Bears, establishing a school record with 15 saves in a single-game with her performance against Notre Dame. In addition, freshman
Megan Sherrell has started every game for Baylor at the defender position.
NEXT TIME OUT
The Bears continue Big 12 Conference play when the Bears travel to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State on Friday, Oct. 1, before heading to Lawrence, Kansas, to face No. 6 Kansas on Sunday, Oct. 3.
