Oct. 31, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
2006 BAYLOR SOCCER
BAYLOR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 8 BAYLOR VS. NO. 1 TEXAS A&M
NOV. 1, 11:00 AM
BLOSSOM STADIUM • SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
BAYLOR SOCCER TRAVELS TO BIG 12 SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Baylor soccer team returns to action this week as the Bears travel to San Antonio, Texas, for the Big 12 Conference Championship. The No. 8 seed Bears open play against No. 1 seed Texas A&M on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 11:00 a.m.
"We are excited about the opportunity to go and play in the Big 12 Championship," head coach George Van Linder said. "Obviously, we have a very tough task in going against the league champion in the opening round; however, I think the team will come out excited and ready to play."
Baylor enters the championship riding a three-game losing streak after falling to Texas Tech, 2-0, in the regular season finale. The Bears will be without the services of leading scorer Anna Schuch in the match against Texas A&M as Schuch picked up her fifth yellow card of the season in the loss to the Red Raiders and will have to serve a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Baylor goalkeeper Ashley Holder leads a strong Baylor defense into the contest as the junior ranks third in the conference with 98 saves and second in the league at 5.44 saves per game. Missy McConnell is the leading scorer for Baylor going against the Aggies as the senior has posted four goals, two assists and 10 points on the year.
Texas A&M, who has won the post-season Big 12 Championship the last two seasons, enters the tournament as the top-seed after posting a 9-1-0 conference record on the year. The Aggies, who lost to Texas 1-0 last weekend and are ranked fifth nationally, are led by Ashlee Pistorius, who leads the team with 22 goals, 12 assists and 56 points on the year.
The Aggies lead the all-time series with the Bears 7-4-1 after a 1-0 victory earlier this season in Waco. Baylor is 4-6 all-time at the Big 12 Conference Championship as the Bears are making their first appearance at the tournament since 2001.
All Baylor games at the Big 12 Championship can be heard via live audio on www.baylorbears.com while live stats for all contests will be available at www.texassports.com.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 1
#1 Texas A&M vs. #8 Baylor, 11 a.m.
#4 Kansas vs. #5 Colorado, 1:30 p.m.
#2 Oklahoma State vs. #7 Oklahoma 5:30 p.m.
#3 Texas vs. #6 Nebraska, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY, NOV. 3
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 5:30 p.m.
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, NOV. 5
Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 1 p.m.
NOTING THIS WEEKEND
• Baylor is making its first appearance at the Big 12 Championship since 2001. The Bears are 4-6 all-time at the post-season tournament.
• Baylor leading scorer Anna Schuch will be unavailable for the Texas A&M match; however, will be able to play should the Bears advance.
• Baylor is 4-7-1 all-time against Texas A&M as the Bears dropped a 1-0 decision to the Aggies earlier this season in Waco.
WORKING THEIR WAY UP THE CHARTS
With only two seniors and 13 newcomers to this year's squad, only a few players on this year's roster have found their way onto the career record books. However, there are a few players on the 2006 roster making their way up the charts. Most notably, junior goalkeeper Ashley Holder, who currently ranks second on the career saves list with 321 for the season.
Notable records:
Career Points: Anna Schuch (6th, 40)
Career Goals: Anna Schuch (14, t-6th); Missy McConnell (t-9th, 9)
Career Assists: Anna Schuch (12, 6th)
Career Multi-Goal Games: Anna Schuch (1, t-9th)
Career Game-Winning Goals: Anna Schuch (4th, 5)
Career Shots: Anna Schuch (8th, 115)
Career Saves: Ashley Holder (2nd, 321)
Career Wins: Ashley Holder (t-2nd, 17)
BAYLOR AT THE BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP
Baylor's trip to the Big 12 Soccer Championship marks the first trip for the Bears to the post-season tournament since 2001 as BU owns a 4-6 record all-time at the tournament. The meeting with the Aggies marks the second time Baylor and Texas A&M have faced off at the championship as the Aggies picked up a 5-4 overtime victory in the semi-finals of the 1996 tournament.
Baylor has never advanced past the semi-finals of the conference tournament; however, the Bears are 4-2 in first round contests. The Bears have faced Nebraska more than any other squad in the post-season tournament as the Huskers are 4-0 against Baylor all-time in the post-season.
Head coach George Van Linder will be making his first appearance at the Big 12 Championships as every Baylor player on the roster will be making their first-ever post-season appearance.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Texas and the San Antonio Sports Foundation will co-host the Big 12 Soccer Championship Nov. 1, 3 and 5 at Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas. This will mark the 10th consecutive year that the event will be held at this venue. In 1996, the first league soccer championship was at the Anheuser-Busch Conference and Sports Centre in St. Louis, Mo.
This season marks the seventh year that eight schools will participate in the league championship. For the first three years a six-team field was utilized for the pos-tseason event. The winner of the Big 12 Championship receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are the only teams to capture a conference post-season championship. Last season, top-seeded Texas A&M won its second -straight title and fourth overall (1997, '01, '04-'05) with a 2-1 win over No. 2 seed Colorado. The Huskers have claimed the most league tourney crowns with five (1996, '98-'00 and '02), while Oklahoma State won in 2003.
SCHUCH AND MCCONNELL LEAVING THEIR MARK
Baylor seniors Missy McConnell and Anna Schuch are making the most out of their final seasons in a Baylor uniform as the duo currently rank first and second among Baylor scorers this season.
With five goals this season, Schuch has climbed to sixth on the Baylor career goal-scorer list as she now has 14 for her career. In addition, Schuch ranks sixth on the career points list with 40 as the senior leads the team with team with four assists this season. However, due to a yellow card in the final contest against Texas Tech, Schuch will not be available for the first round match against the Aggies since the card was her fifth of the season. Schuch will be available for the other matches should Baylor defeat Texas A&M.
With a goal against Nebraska, McConnell became only the 14th player in school history to record goals in three consecutive matches. Heading into this weekend, McConnell has four goals on the season and currently ranks ninth on the career list with nine goals for her career.
NEXT TIME OUT
Should Baylor defeat the top-seeded Aggies, the Bears would face the winner of No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 Colorado on Friday, Nov. 3, at 5:30 p.m.
