By AnnaGrace Hale | Sports Writer
One of the newest additions to the Baylor soccer squad is junior midfielder Ashley Merrill. A transfer from Dallas Baptist University, Merrill has not only found her place in head coach Michelle Lenard’s starting 11, but has also produced some of the most dangerous offensive plays for the Bears this season.
“Ashley [Merrill] is creating a lot of our attack right now,” Lenard said. “She’s dangerous in the air. She causes a lot of problems for the [opposing] defense.”
Merrill broke records and received numerous awards within her last two seasons at DBU. In her first game with the Patriots, she scored a hat-trick in the season opener and went on to receive the Lone Star Conference Player of the Year in 2020. In her 2021 season, she helped the team score 69 overall goals — the most in program history for one season.
Now, the Frisco product has left her Division II days behind her since moving to Baylor (1-2-1). She said she is adjusting to the different style that Division I brings and that the talent and speed of play is different.
“I’ve already noticed the first two or three games where it’s like, ‘Yeah, I see the difference,’” Merrill said. “The amount of hard work and dedication put into the program isn’t any different but the competition is different. I still work the same amount, but I think the competition is much harder.”
Merrill was one of the three Patriot players that followed Lenard to the Baylor program.
“[Merrill is] adjusting — as she said — to the speed of play and to the physicality, but I know her well and she will adapt eventually,” Lenard said. “Now it is a matter of her continuing to mesh with the rest of the group, which is happening. Building those relationships on the field so they are building off each other well and then rising to the level of our opponent.”
Although the tempo of play may be different, Lenard’s system on the field between the D1 and D2 programs is the same: an aggressive, explosive offense. Merrill said the team is still adjusting to Lenard’s vision, but they will adapt with time.
“We’re all kind of trying to mesh together and me knowing [the system] already gives me an advantage, but it’s a team,” Merrill said. “We all have to be on the same page. We all have to be playing the same. Each game we’re learning it more and more. It’s getting better, but by the end of it, we’ll be solid.”
Already finding the back of the net three times within the last six games, Merrill has exemplified Lenard’s offensive vision.
Last week against the University of Florida, Merrill capitalized on one goal to put the green and gold on top of the Gators. After Florida found an equalizer, junior midfielder Gabby Mueller scored the game-winner to the tune of the squad’s first win of the season.
Mueller and Merrill have often been seen together creating opportunities in the final third. Mueller said Merrill brings an offensive pace to the team.
“I love Ashley, she’s a super offensive player,” Mueller said. “It’s nice to get some of that and she definitely uses her head [for headers] a lot more than the other midfielders, so it’s super cool to get some different style of plays in there.”
Moving forward, Lenard, Merrill and the Baylor squad travel to the University of Houston to search for their second win of the season. The Cougars (1-1-1) and the Bears will face off at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Carl Lewis International Complex in Houston.
