SOC Readies for Contest at Texas Tech

BAYLOR (6-4-3) at TEXAS TECH (9-2-1)

Oct. 4, 2024 • 7 p.m. CT • Watch: ESPN+ • Lubbock, Texas • John Walker Soccer Complex

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Coming off "hard-earned" draws against a pair of ranked teams last week, Baylor soccer (6-4-3, 1-2-2) goes back on the road to face a Texas Tech team (9-2-1, 4-0-1) that is tied atop the Big 12 standings.

The Bears, who have played four of their first five conference games at home, close the regular season with four of their last six on the road. Baylor and Tech will square off at 7 p.m. Friday at the John Walker Soccer Complex in a game that will be streamed by ESPN+.

"Even if we had to battle through quite a bit of that TCU game (getting out-shot 28-6), we still gave ourselves a chance to win at the end," Baylor coach Michelle Lenard said. "And that's what we ask of our team. We're competing really well with the top teams in the conference and two of the top 20 teams in the country. So, I feel like we're in a good spot."

Although 23^rd-ranked TCU dominated shots and appeared to control ball possession in Sunday's game at Betty Lou Mays Field, the Bears actually "held them to the lowest possession other than Notre Dame of anybody they've played all season long," Lenard said.

"It did look like a lot at times. We were willing to concede possession in certain spaces on the field," Lenard said. "But I think it might have been 55, 54% in their favor, which is low for them. They typically go 65, close to 70% in the two games leading up to our game. We got on the ball quite a bit in the second half, held it more and balanced that out."

Tied for 10^th in the Big 12 standings with five points (one win and two ties), Baylor could move into the top half of the standings and strengthen its NCAA Tournament chances with a win over the Lady Raiders. Tech has allowed just two goals total in an eight-game unbeaten streak but fell out of the top 25 despite extending its winning streak to four-straight.

"We're playing well enough that we know we can compete with anybody in the conference," Lenard said. "And yes, we know we need to get some wins here. But we had to play some of the top teams in the conference straight away. So, I think our confidence is growing as we get through some of those games and pull out some results. We're just focusing on who's next."

Tech has a pair of the league's top-10 goal scorers in junior forwards Peyton Parsons (7) and Taylor Zdrojewski (6), who was named the Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week, while Faith Nguyen has earned back-to-back Goalkeeper of the Week honors and has a 0.826 goals-against average.

"They're athletic, they're big and strong," Lenard said of the Lady Raiders. "They're a little bit more direct (than TCU). They get the ball forward faster. While they have the ability to keep the ball and then have some possession, they're not going to try to kill you with 500 passes. They're going to be more physical, more direct, get in the box, win some loose balls. It's a different game, and we're going to have to play differently."

STORY LINES

Baylor is preparing to head to Lubbock, Texas to face the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Friday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. CT. BU only has one game this week instead of the usual Thursday-Sunday contests.
The 2024 season marks the 28th season of the Baylor Soccer program. During that time, BU has won four Big 12 titles, advanced to two Elite Eights and had four All-Americans to go with countless All-Big 12 and Academic All-Big 12 honorees.
This season also marks the third year of the Michelle Lenard coaching era, as she was selected as the Bears sixth head coach in program history in December of 2021.
With the new Big 12 teams joining the conference this season, the Bears will only play 11 of the 15 other opponents this season. The Bears will face all four of the new schools, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. BU will not face Cincinnati, UCF, Kansas or Kansas State in regular season play.
The Bears are 6-4-3 so far on the season, with three of BU's losses coming against ranked opponents (No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 22 Iowa and No. 15 Oklahoma State). The Bears most recently recorded 1-1 draws against No. 16 Colorado and No. 22 TCU.
Baylor has a 33 person roster this season and features 25 returners and eight newcomers.
Returning to the squad for the first time since the 2022 season in fifth-year Marissa Gray. After working for the past year and applying to PT school, Gray re-joined the Bears to use her fifth year of eligibility. She hasn't seen playing time since the 2019 season due to injury but returns to the pitch as a veteran on the backline.
This season the Bears roster features two international student-athletes for the first time since the 2017 season. Salma Simonin returns to Baylor from Manchester, United Kingdom and Hilary Washington joins the Bears from Wellesley, Ontario, Canada.
Twenty-three Bears have seen playing time so far this season with Hallie Augustyn leading the way with 1156 minutes played.
Tyler Isgrig leads the Bears so far this season in points with 13, off of four goals and five assists. She has played the fifth most minutes so far this season (1053).
Isgrig leads the Big 12 in all games with 51 shots on the season so far and is third in shots per game with 3.92. She is also tied for second in assists (5) and fifth in assists per game (.38) in the Big 12.
The junior forward, Isgrig, currently sits tied for fifth in most career assists in BU's record books with 17 so far with assists from both TCU and Baylor.
Joining Isgrig with multiple goals this season are Ashley Merrill, Hallie Augustyn, Hannah Augustyn and Callie Conrad, while Kai Hayes has one goal. BU has two team goals this year from own goals, including one this week against Colorado.
In the Bears' 4-0 win over the Houston Cougars, four different Bears recorded a goal. That marked BU's first game with four different goal scorers since Sept. 10, 2023.
Azul Alvarez has posted four shutout wins this season, with a career-high eight saves twice this season, once against Iowa and once against Arizona.
Alvarez and Conrad have picked up the Bears' only Big 12 conference weekly award so far this season, being named Goalkeeper and Offensive Player of the Week (8/28).
Baylor holds the all-time record over TTU, 18-9-4, after falling to the Red Raiders last season in Waco, 2-0.
BU's last win over Texas Tech came in 2021, when Baylor won 3-2.
Baylor is currently sitting at No. 36 in the RPI rankings. The Big 12 as a whole has seven teams sitting in the top 50 in RPI rankings.

- BaylorBears.com -

SOC Readies for Contest at Texas Tech

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Players Mentioned

Azul Alvarez

Hallie Augustyn

Hannah Augustyn

Callie Conrad

Marissa Gray

Kai Hayes

Tyler Isgrig

Ashley Merrill

Salma Simonin

Hilary Washington

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SOC Readies for Contest at Texas Tech

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Azul Alvarez

Hallie Augustyn

Hannah Augustyn

Callie Conrad

Marissa Gray

Kai Hayes

Tyler Isgrig

Ashley Merrill

Salma Simonin

Hilary Washington

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