Baylor soccer competed in the Nike Invitational in Portland, Ore. this weekend with Washington, Portland and Boise State, coming away with a 1-1 record.
The Bears finished in a tie for second place at the invitational with Boise State, while Washington took the crown and Portland finished in last place.
The Bears defeated Portland (2-5-0), the host team, on Friday night in a 1-0 game that came down to a penalty kick by senior midfielder, Aline De Lima.
The kick came in the 36th minute as De Lima scored her first goal of the season for the Bears and the fifth in her Baylor career.
The Bears dominated the pace of the game against the Pilots, taking 24 shots to Portland’s seven, including allowing just two shots in the second half.
With the win, Baylor moved to 5-0-1 on the season. A .917 win percentage that matched the best start to a season in program history.
Baylor head coach Paul Jobson said the team was expecting a challenge coming into the weekend and they responded well to that challenge on Friday night.
“Going into it, we’ve focused on this weekend being two really big tests for us with some really great opponents and being ready to step up to the challenge,” Jobson said. “They obviously did that tonight and I’m proud of that. They had a never say die mentality, even being up 1-0. I think all night we just kept going after it and it could have been two or three, if not for a couple of hair misses.”
On Sunday afternoon, the Bears were not as fortunate, dropping a 1-0 game to Washington (6-2-0) to notch their first loss on the season.
The game proved to be a physical one, with 39 fouls called, four yellow cards on Washington and two yellow cards on Baylor.
Again, the game came down to a penalty kick with Washington senior midfielder Amanda Perez providing the game-winner in the 47th minute.
Baylor freshman goalkeeper, Jennifer Wandt, allowed her first goal of the season, dropping to 3-1 on the season as the starter.
The goal snapped a 504 minute, 4-game streak of shutouts by the Baylor defense, dating back to an August 20 2-1 win against Wyoming.
Washington head coach Lesle Gallimore said she is proud of her team, but also praised the toughness and skill of the Baylor team.
“I’m extremely proud of the team’s effort today,” Gallimore told gohuskies.com. “A quick turnaround between games is always physically and mentally difficult and I felt that our team showed a lot of poise and grit against a very fast, physical, and dynamic Baylor team.”
The Bears look to bounce back against No. 23 SMU at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in Dallas.
