By Foster Nicholas | Sports Editor
In the third year under head coach Michelle Lenard, Baylor soccer’s expectations are sky-high, and 90 minutes of strong play is required every night. So when Texas State landed a last-minute goal to prevent a loss for the first time in program history at Betty Lou Mays Field, a tie felt even worse than a loss.
After a two hour and 36 minute weather delay, the Bears (5-3-1, 0-1-0 Big 12) struggled in the first half, and their second-half splash was matched in energy by the Bobcats (3-3-2, 0-0-0 Sun Belt), resulting in a 2-2 tie in the final non-conference match of the season Sunday night.
“[It was a] slow start from us in the first half. We played pretty poorly in the first half, as far as creating opportunities goes. But I thought we had a great start to the second half. [We] missed some early opportunities, which is why we’re in the situation that we’re in at the end of the game,” Lenard said. “We had opportunities to put that team away early, and it’s a totally different game, and we didn’t.”
Set up by a Baylor foul with under one minute to play, Texas State retained possession of the ball with one last shot to try and spoil the Bears’ night. In her collegiate debut, Texas State freshman midfielder Helen Alormenu took a kick from midfield, circled the ball, turned around and evened the game with one swing of her leg and 13 seconds remaining on the scoreboard.
THE FRESHMAN!!!!#EatEmUp #SunBeltWSOC #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/VVsXcCioZx
— Texas State Soccer (@TXStateSoccer) September 16, 2024
As an audible groan spread across Betty Lou Mays Field, the frustration of Baylor’s players and coaches created a tangible tension almost as thick as the rain that had delayed the game earlier in the night.
“It’s late, we’re tired, and we can’t make excuses,” Lenard said. “We should have won the game despite that, we had plenty of opportunities to do so. If you go back and look at the OSU stats … There’s no doubt in my mind we should have won the OSU game.
“This game is going to be the same way.”
Junior goalkeeper Ashlee Zirkel earned her first start of the year in place of injured junior goalkeeper Azul Alvarez. Zirkel made seven saves of nine opportunities though the lethal final blow sailed past her without contest.
The teams were scoreless through the first 45 minutes but combined for 12 shots. Zirkel was on her toes in the half; she recorded three saves and prevented Texas State from capitalizing on five corner kicks.
In search of a spark, Baylor came out of the halftime break peppering the goal with six shots in the first six minutes of the second half. Junior forward Tyler Isgrig was responsible for three of the shots and led the Bears in the match with a career-high 10 shots, eight of which were on goal.
“We came out in the second half the way that we said we were going to come out in the first half. That’s what you should have seen from us from the beginning. And I don’t know why it took so long to get there,” Lenard said. “They did a good job of dialing that back up, but, unfortunately, we didn’t put those opportunities away. So here we are.”
The Bobcats broke the tie in the 54th minute when sophomore midfielder Victoria Meza sent a bullet off the left post, which ricocheted into the back of the net. Just two minutes later, Isgrig scored the equalizer for Baylor and threw her hand in the air in celebration while shrugging off the defense.
Physicality became a factor later in the half as the two teams combined for 19 fouls and the attacking team flipped every other minute. Midfield service from sophomore defender Natalie Vatter set up a perfect header for graduate student midfielder Kai Hayes, who finished off the lob with her first career goal to give Baylor a 2-1 lead in the 71st minute.
The green and gold made a concerted effort to drain time off the clock after Zirkel made a save in the 85th minute. Freshman forward Alysiah Lockette, junior midfielder Skye Leach and sophomore midfielder Adriana Merriam controlled and battled Bobcat players for the ball for two minutes before Leach and Merriam each recorded fouls. After Texas State scored the equalizing blow, the Bobcats sent the ball as far from the net as possible in the waning seconds.
Despite the loss, Baylor finished with its second-most shots, 22, and shots on goal in a game with 12, just one less than in the 5-2 win over St. Bonaventure on Aug. 18.
“I think the frustrations are important. If we want to be a championship team, then we have to deal with this stuff, and it is frustrating and it’s painful,” Lenard said. “We own those feelings, and we understand that we bring a lot of that on ourselves by not taking advantage of the opportunities that we get. And hopefully, we can keep using this to fuel us.”
The green and gold will hit the heat of Big 12 play with Arizona (5-2-1, 0-1-0 Big 12) traveling to Waco on Thursday for the first time in program history. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field.
