SOC prepares to compete at Texas Tech

BAYLOR (6-4-3). 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 Insiders



WACO, Texas – After picking up “hard-fought” draws against two 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), tied in the Big 12 rankings.


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


“Even though we had to fight through quite a bit in this TCU game (outshot 28-6), we still gave ourselves a chance to win in the end,” Baylor coach said Michelle Lenard said. “And that’s what we ask of our team. We compete 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 position.”


Although 23^approxAlthough TCU dominated shots and appeared to control possession in Sunday's game at Betty Lou Mays Field, the Bears actually had “the lowest possession of any player they've played all season other than Notre Dame,” Lenard said.


“It looked like a lot at times. We were willing to allow possession in certain areas of the field,” Lenard said. “But I think it might have been 55, 54% in their favor, which is low for them. Normally in the two games before our game they are at 65, almost 70%. We had the ball quite often.” I held on more in the second half and evened it out.


Draw for 10^Th Sitting 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 total goals in an eight-game unbeaten streak, but has fallen out of the top 25 despite extending its winning streak to four straight.


“We’re playing well enough to know we can compete with anyone in the conference,” Lenard said. “And yes, we know we have to get some wins here. But we had to play some of the top teams in the conference right away. So I think our confidence will grow as we get through some of these games and get some out there. “We're just focused on who's next.”


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


“They’re athletic, they’re big and strong,” Lenard said of the Lady Raiders. “They’re a little more direct (than TCU). They bring the ball forward faster. “They have the ability to hold the ball and then have some possession, but they won't try to kill you with 500 passes.” They will be more physical and direct, get into the penalty area and win a few free balls. It's a different game and we have to play differently.

STORIES

• Baylor is preparing to travel to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Friday, October 4th at 7pm 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, along 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 2021.
• With 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 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 this season, with BU suffering three losses to ranked opponents (No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 22 Iowa and No. 15 Oklahoma State). The Bears recently posted 1-1 ties against No. 16 Colorado and No. 22 TCU.
• Baylor has a 33-player roster this season and features 25 returning players and eight freshmen.
• In year five, he returned to the squad for the first time since the 2022 season Marissa Gray. After spending the last year working and applying to a sports school, Gray returned to 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 court as an experienced defender.
• This season marks the first time the Bears have two international student-athletes on their roster since the 2017 season. Salma Simonin returns to Baylor from Manchester, UK Hilary Washington joins the Bears from Wellesley, Ontario, Canada.
• So far this season, 23 Bears have played time Hallie Augustyn leading with 1156 minutes played.
• Tyler Isgrig He leads the Bears with 13 points so far this season, including four goals and five assists. She has played the fifth-most minutes so far this season (1,053).
• Isgrig leads the Big 12 in all-game shooting with 51 shots so far on the season and ranks third with 3.92 shots per game. She also ranks second in assists (5) and fifth in assists per game (0.38) in the Big 12.
• Junior forward Isgrig is currently tied for fifth most assists in the BU record books with 17 assists from TCU and Baylor.
• Belong to Isgrig with multiple goals this season Ashley Merrill, Hallie Augustyn, Hannah Augustyn And Callie Conradwhile Kai Hayes has a goal. BU has scored two team goals on own goals this year, including one this week against Colorado.
• Four different Bears scored in the Bears' 4-0 win over the Houston Cougars. This was BU's first game with four different scorers since September 10, 2023.
• Azul Alvarez has posted four shutout wins this season, posting a career-best eight saves twice this season, once against Iowa and once against Arizona.
• Alvarez and Conrad have earned the Bears' only weekly honors in the Big 12 Conference so far this season, being named Goaltender and Offensive Player of the Week (8/28).
• Baylor holds an 18-9-4 record over TTU after losing 2-0 to the Red Raiders in Waco last season.
• BU's last win over Texas Tech came in 2021 when Baylor went 3-2.
• Baylor is currently ranked No. 36 in the RPI rankings. The Big 12 as a whole has seven teams ranked in the top 50 in the RPI rankings.

– BaylorBears.com –