By Nate Maki | Sports Writer
After a challenging week at home, Baylor soccer is eager to get back in the win column as it host Arizona at 7 p.m. Thursday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.
After racing out to their best start to a season since 2018, the Bears (5-3-1, 0-1-0 Big 12) dropped a tight 1-0 affair in their first conference match against Oklahoma State (8-0-1, 1-0-0 Big 12) and landed a draw in their last non-conference clash with Texas State (3-3-2). When in doubt, however, head coach Michelle Lenard likes to find the silver lining.
“Of course we were disappointed,” Lenard said. “But I think when we’re able to remove ourselves emotionally from the game and look at the data, we can see that we’re actually doing a lot of things really well.
“We basically won in every value we care about, and as long as we keep doing that, we’re going to come away with some wins. We know what went wrong, and we felt like the better team in both of those matchups. So we are going in confident to this next set of matches. We just have to trust the process.”
Graduate student midfielder Kai Hayes had the first goal of her career against Texas State. Seeing increasingly more playtime since transferring from UNC, Hayes is feeling more comfortable with the team and is ready to bring lessons from last week into a win against the Wildcats (5-2-1, 0-1-0 Big 12).
“We’re focusing a lot on ourselves and what we can do offensively,” Hayes said. “Just getting our numbers up and capitalizing on those opportunities to take goals.”
In their loss against the Cowboys, junior goalkeeper Azul Alvarez sustained a head injury and didn’t see the pitch against Texas State on Sunday. Lenard announced that Alvarez has been in practice and will likely be cleared to start against Arizona on Thursday night.
This match will mark the Wildcats’ second ever game in Big 12 play. The team joined the conference this season alongside Arizona State, Colorado and Utah, whom the Bears will also face later in regular season play.
“I think it brings a lot of variety,” fifth-year senior defender Marissa Gray said in regard to the new Big 12 teams. “Sometimes playing the same teams can get a little old, so I like having some new competition. They bring a lot of speed, which is a little scary in the moment, but you just have to find the flow of the game.”
The Bears have an all-time record of 1-1 against the Wildcats, with last contest coming in 2018 going in favor of Arizona. Thursday’s match will be the first time in program history Arizona plays in Waco.
“They haven’t played the schedule that we have, so I think we’re a little more prepared,” Lenard said. “We’ve played a good variety of teams, and as long as we keep control of the ball, we have that advantage over them.”
Kickoff against the new Big 12 foe is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Field. The Bears will close out their four game home stand against Houston (3-3-1) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
