By Nate Maki | Sports Writer
For the first time in program history, Baylor soccer hosted Arizona Thursday night at Betty Lou Mays Field. Fighting against an aggressive offense, the Bears dropped the tight contest, 1-0.
The Wildcats (6-2-1, 1-1-0 Big 12) were dominant right from kickoff, taking a shot in the first minute without letting the Bears (5-4-1, 0-2-0 Big 12) touch the ball. Arizona’s early shot went out left and head coach Michelle Lenard watched the Bears’ defense stall back-to-back corner kicks. However, Baylor’s quick counterattack wasn’t enough to find the back of the net.
“It was nothing like the scouting reports,” Lenard said. “Teams are coming out with a specific game plan against us, and we need to be able to adjust faster. Regardless of who’s coming up next, we have to create more opportunities and adjust on the fly.”
Arizona continued to dominate the first half with its aggressive, pass-heavy offense. Opportunities were few and far between for the Bears, who only put up two shots across the first half. Sophomore midfielder Adriana Merriam booted the first shot in the 19th minute, though it went out left, and the second attempt at a score came on a header from sophomore midfielder Theresa McCullough —it sailed high over the crossbar.
“The aggressiveness wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before,” junior forward Tyler Isgrig said. “It was more that they had a lot of midfielders, and they outnumbered us early on. We need to be better at communicating and we need get more prepared for Sunday.”
The Bears continued to struggle against the Wildcats, who notched 11 shots in the first 45 minutes. The defense managed to keep the green and gold afloat with junior goalkeeper Azul Alvarez, back in the starting lineup after missing the last game due to injury, saving all four shots on goal in the half. Alvarez matched her personal best of eight saves by the end of the game.
The defenders managed to keep the other seven shots off-goal, ending the first half in a scoreless tie.
“[Alvarez] kept us in it,” Lenard said. “She made a lot of saves she shouldn’t have had to make. Our defense did everything they could; we just have to get more productivity out of our front line.”
Both teams took the pitch in the second half under an orange harvest supermoon. The Bears came out swinging, taking the first shot in the 47th minute off of Isgrig’s boot, just barely missing the goal as it veered right.
“The little chances I had were not easy,” Isgrig said. “None of the goals I make really are, but I was trying to create those opportunities, and at the end of the day, I tried everything I could.”
The Bears’ momentum didn’t last long, though. The defense was put under pressure in the following 10 minutes with five shots from the Wildcats front line. The defense was stout until the 59th minute, when Arizona found a gap just out of Alvarez’s reach, sinking a goal in the top left corner and giving the Wildcats the advantage, 1-0.
Baylor made significant attacking improvements in the second half nine shots, up to par with Arizona’s 10. The green and gold’s closest opportunity came in the 85th minute, where Isgrig took a shot through several defenders toward a near-open goal.
But the shot hit the left post and bounced into another counter-attack for the Wildcats. The Bears had one final opportunity from a corner kick in the final minute, which was quickly removed from the box as the final buzzer sounded.
“We’re only two games into Big 12 play, so we need to use this as motivation,” sophomore forward Skylar Zinnecker said. “Taking a loss on our turf is not what we wanted tonight, but we’re going to use this loss to come out on Sunday and get some momentum against Houston.”
The green and gold will close out their four-game home stand at 1 p.m. Sunday against Houston (3-4-1, 0-2-0 Big 12) at Betty Lou Mays Field.
