No. 13 SOC Rallies Back Over Kansas, 3-1

Sunday, October 21

Waco, Texas

2:00 PM CT

Baylor

14-4-0, 7-1-0Big 12

Kansas

10-5-2, 4-4-0Big 12

Kansas

Baylor

Photo by: Matthew Minard

No. 13 SOC Rallies Back Over Kansas, 3-1

10/21/2018 5:28:00 PM | Soccer

Box Score

Bears set up de facto regular season title match for next week

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

One win away from Baylor soccer claiming its first Big 12 regular-season championship in 20 years and second overall, coach Paul Jobson said he hasn't "had time to process the possibility of it yet."

After Sunday's 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Kansas, possibility will turn into reality if the 13^th-ranked Bears (14-4-0, 7-1-0) can get by Oklahoma (7-8-2, 3-4-1) in Thursday's 7 p.m. regular-season finale at Betty Lou Mays Field.

Paul Jobson and Baylor assistant coaches Matt Smith and Chuck Codd stress that the next game is the most important, "and we truly believe that, because there's no way we can win championships without each and every single game," senior forward Raegan Padgett said.

"I think the team has really taken on that mindset of the next game is the most important. We're really excited to play for a championship and we're excited to finish the Big 12 season and go into the tournament and see what we can do."

The possibility of a Big 12 championship seemed to be slipping through Baylor's grasp when Kansas (10-5-2, 4-4-0) took a 1-0 lead on a header goal by Grace Hagan off the Elise Reina corner kick with just under 13 minutes left in the opening half of Sunday's game at Betty Lou Mays Field. That was the first goal allowed by sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt, ending a shutout streak of 642 minutes and 4 seconds.

Jobson said the Bears "were almost on the verge of being halfhearted, like how much do we have to do to get through this Sunday game?"

"I just challenged them, I said, 'You can't be halfhearted here on a Sunday,''' Jobson said. "And man, they really responded. They stepped up big-time and showed they are a championship-caliber team in that second half."

Wasting no time, Baylor got the equalizing goal barely five minutes into the second half when junior forward Camryn Wendlandt headed in her team-best eighth goal of the season off a corner kick by Ally Henderson.

"That just reassured us and put us back in the game and got our minds back," Padgett said. "We went into halftime saying let's get an early one and push hard. That just set the tone. Our game plan was to level the playing field really early on and go at them."

They did just that.

When freshman Taylor Moon was fouled just outside the penalty box, that set up a free kick by Julie James. Halee Sowinski had a header pass to Moon for a shot that bounced off the crossbar, with an alert Elena Reyna heading it in past Kansas goalkeeper Sarah Peters for what turned out to be the game-winning goal and the freshman's first of her career.

"All I saw was that the ball was bouncing around, and I was kind of hoping it would come my way so I could head it in," Reyna said. "Then Taylor went for it, and I was like, 'Oh, it's going in.' But, I stood there just in case, and it hit the crossbar. I just tried to push it into the goal."

Jobson said he challenged Reyna at halftime, "because she already had a breakaway type opportunity in the first half and she played it like a freshman."

"I told her that everybody behind you believes in you, so you have to believe in yourself. She showed so much maturity at the end of the game."

Padgett gave the Bears some breathing room with a breakaway goal in the 82^nd minute, when she dribbled by Peterson when the KU goalkeeper came off her line to try to challenge her in a one-on-one situation.

"We were running right at each other, and I was like, 'What are we going to do here?''' said Padgett, who kicked in her fifth goal of the season and 11^th of her career into an empty net. "I saw Julie James get up for that head ball and work her butt off fort that, so I knew I had to do something with it. If that was getting a foul called or put the goal away, I was just working hard for my team and giving us a little more cushion."

Baylor finished with a 15-8 edge in shots, including a 9-3 difference in the second half, and had two more corner kicks than the Jayhawks (7-5).

"They controlled the run of play, and that's a team that's very good in possession," Jobson said. "When they get in a rhythm, they're very good, and that's something we talked about all week. The reality is in the second half we eliminated their opportunities with the ball. That's what we talked about at halftime, we were giving them too much time and space. We had opportunities in the first half, and we knew we would get the same or even more opportunities if we just kind of wrapped up our defense a little bit."

Already assured of a top-2 seed for the Big 12 Championship that starts next Sunday, Oct. 28, in Kansas City, Mo., the Bears can clinch at least a share of the regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed with a win over Oklahoma on Thursday.

"We're just so excited to have Baylor University rooting for us and be in the spotlight and try to bring home another win for the school," Padgett said.

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Baylor soccer (14-4-0, 7-1-0 Big 12) maintained its perfect record at home in 2018, scoring three unanswered second half goals to roll to a 3-1 win over Kansas (10-5-2, 4-4-0 Big 12) on Sunday afternoon at Betty Lou Mays Field.

After a rocky first half that included five shots, four corners, and a goal for KU, the Baylor defense completely dominated the second period, allowing the Jayhawks to notch just three shots and one corner.

The Baylor offense responded in a big way, coming out firing in the second half.

A corner kick for Ally Henderson served a header opportunity for Camryn Wendlandt, who headed home her eighth goal of the season to tie the match in the 51st minute.

Looking to keep the momentum going, the Bears connected again in the 73rd minute, set up by a foul on Kansas just outside of the penalty area.

After the free kick by the Bears bounced throughout the scrum of KU and BU, a clean header from Halee Sowinski to Taylor Moon led to a shot that bounced off of the crossbar and up in front of the goal.

Freshman forward launched forward to head home what would stand as the game-winning goal, pushing BU in front, 2-1.

Looking for some breathing room, the Bears cracked the KU defense one more time in the 82nd minute, with Raegan Padgett collecting a pass at midfield and turning on the afterburners to break behind the Jayhawk defensive backline.

With the KU keeper charging forward to try to force an error, Padgett was able to sidestep the diving keeper and dribble the ball into the net to ice the 3-1 win for the Bears.

STAT OF THE MATCH #1
24-2 – the score differential for the Bears at home in 2018, improving to 9-0 at Betty Lou Mays Field this season.

STAT OF THE MATCH #2
24 – the career Big 12 wins for Baylor head coach Paul Jobson (24-18-6), passing his wife and former Baylor head coach Marci Jobson (23-28-11) for the most conference wins in program history.

STAT OF THE MATCH #3
7 – the number of Big 12 wins in 2018 for Baylor soccer, the most in a season since the 1998 squad set a program record with a 9-0-1 conference record.

TOP QUOTES
"I haven't had time to process the possibility of it yet. The reality is that we can't change anything we do because we have to win the next game and we're not even there yet. We have to just focus on the details and take care of our bodies because we have a quicker turnaround than normal. Instead of a Friday, it's a Thursday match against a really good Oklahoma team that's coming in here. We know there's no weak opponents here, and I know Oklahoma would love to come in here and keep us from doing that, so we've got to be 100% ready to fight for a championship." – Baylor head coach Paul Jobson

"When we were down, we just knew we hadn't hit our groove yet. Once we did hit it, we'd be perfectly fine. Once we're working for each other, nothing really stops us. Especially because our team has such a hard work ethic, we never stop working. So, when we were down, it wasn't a big deal for us. We just knew we'd come back." – Baylor freshman forward Elena Reyna

"I just saw the ball and I saw the goal, and I was just doing my best to put it away. We were running right at each other and I was like, 'What are we going to do here?' I saw Julie James get up for that head ball and work her butt off for that, so I knew I had to do something with it. If that was getting a foul called or putting the goal away, I was just working hard for my team and giving us a little more cushion." – Baylor junior forward Raegan Padgett

NOTES
* Baylor and Kansas met for the 25th time, with the Bears improving to 11-11-2 in the series and 2-5-0 under head coach Paul Jobson.

* Sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt saw her home shutout streak this season fall at 642:04 minutes, allowing her first goal of the season at Betty Lou Mays Field.

* Camryn Wendlandt scored her team-best eighth goal of the season, the 10th of her collegiate career.

* Elena Reyna scored her first collegiate goal, also notching her first game-winner.

* Raegan Padgett scored her fifth goal of the season, taking her career goal count up to 11.

* Halee Sowinski collected the first point of her collegiate career, earning an assist on Reyna's game-winner.

* Taylor Moon picked up the fourth assist of her freshman season, taking her season point total up to 10.

* Ally Henderson notched an assist on Wendlandt's equalizer goal off the corner kick, the second point on the season for Henderson.

* The Bears continue to score at a clip that ranks them among the most productive offenses in the country, scoring at least one goal for 18-straight matches, the longest streak to start a season since the program's 1996 inaugural season (scored in all 21 matches).

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor will host Oklahoma on Thursday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field. With Baylor and West Virginia both carrying 7-1-0 Big 12 records into the final day of the Big 12 season, the Bears can secure at least a share of the regular season title with a win over the Sooners. The Mountaineers host Kansas the same day at 7 p.m. ET in Morgantown, W.Va.

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