SOC Prepares For Season Opener

Thursday, August 18

Waco, TX

7 PM

Baylor

Minnesota

SOC Prepares For Season Opener

8/17/2022 4:51:00 PM | Soccer

Game Notes

Bears to face Minnesota, Wisconsin at home

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Baylor's new-look soccer team, with 15 newcomers and a new coaching staff, will open the regular season with a matchup against Minnesota at 7 p.m. Thursday at Betty Lou Mays Field.
            "It's definitely different, a lot of things have changed, but I think our whole team has adapted very well to our new coach," said Taylor Moon, a fifth-year senior forward who has scored 15 career goals. "We want the program to be successful, no matter who our coach is. So, I think it's been a pretty easy transition, because obviously our goal is to win."
            First-year head coach Michelle Lenard was a winner at Dallas Baptist, leading the Patriots to 200 victories (200-77-26) and a combined 13 conference championships.
            The Bears will be tested by a challenging schedule that includes four-straight Power 5 teams. They will host Wisconsin at 7 p.m. Sunday, then travel south down I-35 to face Florida next Thursday, Aug. 25, and 10^th-ranked North Carolina on Sunday, Aug. 28, in Austin.
            "We have a tough schedule, there's really no other way to put it," Lenard said. "But, that's really what we need. We need to be tested. If we have weaknesses, we need those to be exposed early on. We need to put the team in a position to have to solve problems.
            "We're not really worrying about conference right now. This is, how do we perform (Thursday) night against Minnesota? Are we giving ourselves the best opportunity to win? Are we implementing the game style we've said we're committed to executing, and are we scoring goals? That's really all we're concerned with."
            Scoring goals has been at the top of Lenard's priority list, implementing more of an offensive-minded attack. Last year, the Bears had four scoreless ties and were held to one goal or less 10 times in an 8-5-6 season.
            In exhibition wins over LSU (3-1) and UTSA (2-1), four different players found the net. Fifth-year seniors Kayley Ables and Maddie Algya and freshman Annika Fredell scored against LSU, then Dallas Baptist transfer Ashley Merrill scored a pair of second-half goals in the road win over UTSA.
            "If we have the best defensive game of our lives, the best we can do as defenders is tie without forwards to score," Ables said. "That's definitely something we're pushing right now, but without losing our defensive identity."
            While things ratchet up with Thursday's regular-season opener, Lenard said she hopes to "get a number of different kids on the scoreboard" throughout her first season at Baylor.
            "It's great if you have one kid scoring a bunch of goals," she said, "but honestly, it's really difficult, because then the opponent can come in and put a couple of players on them and take that one player out of the match. So, we don't want to be that team that's easily marked. We'd rather be dangerous in all positions."
            Similar to Baylor, Minnesota struggled to score last year, getting shut out five times and netting just 27 goals combined in 17 games. Sophia Boman, a second-team All-Big Ten selection last year, scored the only goal in the Gophers' 1-0 win over the Bears in last year's season opener in Minneapolis.
            "I think it's important that we don't make too many assumptions," Lenard said. "It's a new year, and we don't have a lot of information on them this season. But, based off of what we saw last season, they were more direct. They can play, and if you give them too much space, they will, But, I think they prefer to be a bit more direct in their attack. They're more of a counter-attacking team."
            On Sunday, the Bears will face a Wisconsin team that advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament with wins over Butler and UC Irvine. The Badgers, who received votes in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason poll, will play seventh-ranked TCU on Thursday in Fort Worth.
            "These games are harder," said Ables, Baylor's lone preseason All-Big 12 selection, "but they'll prepare us for games when we play harder teams. We have a very hard conference anyway, so I think we'll be best-equipped to start out the season than any of our other seasons."
            The games on Thursday and Sunday will be streamed by Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

BAYLOR VS MINNESOTA
Thursday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m.
Betty Lou Mays Field
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+

BAYLOR VS WISCONSIN
Sunday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.
Betty Lou Mays Field
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+

BAYLOR BEARS
Head Coach: Michelle Lenard (North Texas, 2003)
Career Record: 201-77-25 (15th season)
BU Record: 0-0-0 (1st season)

MINNESOTA GOPHERS
2022 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Erin Chastain (Minnesota, 1997)
Career Record: 127-119-37 (16th season)
Minnesota Record: 8-6-3 (2nd season)

WISCONSIN BADGERS
2022 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Paula Wilkins (UMass, 1994)
Career Record: 287-109-60 (22nd season)
Wisconsin Record: 168-90-49 (16th season)

STORY LINES

Baylor opens its 2022 season at home with a match against Minnesota on Thursday before hosting Wisconsin to wrap things up on Sunday. After the Bears started last season on the road for only the eighth time in program history, Baylor will get to play in front of the home crowd to start the season.
BU is 15-2-1 all time when opening the season at home. The last home season opening win was against Northwestern State on Aug. 25, 2019 and they won 4-2.
The 2022 season marks the 26th season of the Baylor Soccer program.
This season also marks the beginning of the Michelle Lenard coaching era, as she was selected as the Bears sixth head coach in program history. She comes from an illustrious DII career at DBU, where she led the Patriots to 13 conference championships and amassed a 201-77-25 record over 14 seasons.
Coach Lenard brought with her from DBU assistant coach Lea Sedwick Caffey and director of soccer operations, Maggie Scales. Rounding out her staff is assistant coach, Cole Ouren and volunteer assistant coach Cameron Carter.
Coming off a 2021 campaign that featured a 4-2-3 conference finish, BU finished third in the conference after being selected to finish seventh in the preseason poll.
Baylor has a 34 person roster this season and features 19 returners and 15 newcomers.
BU has eight starters returning, including Kayley Ables, Maddie Algya, Mackenzie Anthony, Ava Colberg, Sarah Hornyak, Elizabeth Kooiman, Taylor Moon and Gabby Mueller. Joining the starters are key members off the bench Chloe Brown, Olivia Mack, Alyssa Navarette, Lorelai Stramrood, Haven Terry, Sophie Wilson and Kate Zimmerman.
Baylor lost three key members from the 2021 roster and five-year starters, Jennifer Wandt, Ally Henderson-Ashkinos and Sarah Norman.
Joining the 2022 squad are five transfers Jenna Patterson (DBU), Blythe Obar (DBU), Ashley Merrill (DBU), Micah Beasley (Auburn) and Madison martin (Texas Tech).
The nine incoming freshmen are Skye Leach, Reneta Vargas, Annika Fredell, Trinity Egerton, Kylie Finney, Morgan Greensage, Hallie Augustyn, Hannah Augustyn, Ashlee Zirkel and Camryn Ciborowski.
The NCAA has done away with overtime during the regular season this year, meaning that every game will end at the end of the 90-minute regulation time.
Kayley Ables was the lone Baylor player named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team. A fifth-year senior for the program, she has been a key component to the Baylor backline, aka the "No-Goal Patrol."
Taylor Moon was named a preseason Forward to Watch this season by United Soccer Coaches.
The front line this season will likely see transfer Jenna Patterson and returners Olivia Mack and Elizabeth Kooiman frequently with depth and help off the bench.
Veteran fifth year senior, Maddie Algya will hold down the midfield with help from DBU transfers, Ashley Merrill and Blythe Obar. With a more possession focused playing style, this will give many players chances at scoring.
Returners Kayley Ables and Ava Colberg will hold down the defense with the help of freshman twins Hallie and Hannah Augustyn. Without fifth-year starter Jennifer Wandt in goal, the Bears will likely turn to Lauren Traywick and Texas Tech transfer Madison Martin, while keeping options open with two other freshman goalkeepers on the roster.
With coach Lenard's new playing philosophy, BU defeated both LSU (3-1) and UTSA (2-1) in preseason exhibition matches with five different Baylor players scoring goals.