By Marissa Essenburg | Sports Writer
As the final seconds ticked away at Betty Lou Mays Field, hugs turned into tears and cheers filled the night air. Baylor soccer had done it again — two years, two trophies, one unforgettable era.
2017 and 2018 are two seasons forever etched into Baylor soccer history. Two years that cemented names, titles and postseason runs that would shape the program for years to come.
Under then-head coach Paul Jobson, the Bears built more than just a winning team — they built a culture. Those back-to-back Big 12 titles weren’t flukes; they came from a locker room that refused to quit, a program that learned how to believe and a roster that blended talent, toughness and faith in equal measure.
“We got toward the end of the 2017 season and weren’t even sure we’d make it to the Big 12 tournament,” Jobson said. “Then we just hit a run. After TCU handed it to us, the girls had a wake-up call — kind of a come-to-Jesus moment where they asked, ‘What do we want to be? What do we want to do?’ It was unbelievable the way we finished.”
From the wake-up call of 2017 to the dominance of 2018, Baylor’s rise was built on resilience — the answer to a question that once shaped who the Bears wanted to be.
That resilience still defines the program today. Seven years later, the team chases the same dream and heads into a postseason that feels all too familiar to those 13-5-2 and 15-4 campaigns in 2017 and 2018.
After a 10-season stretch with only three winning records, 2017 marked the year Jobson’s vision finally came to fruition.
Led by upperclassmen Sarah King and Lauren Piercy, Baylor rediscovered its identity through grit and unity. The Bears rattled off four straight wins to end the regular season, clawing their way back into contention before storming through the Big 12 Tournament.
Baylor capped the tournament with a 3-0 sweep through the Big 12 Championship, avenging three regular-season overtime losses along the way. The run ended with the program’s second conference title, a repeat of its 2012 win over TCU, as the Bears lifted the Big 12 tournament trophy once again.
The Bears brought home the hardware and plenty of recognition as their Big 12 title win punched a ticket to the NCAA Tournament — the program’s first postseason berth since 2012. Senior midfielder Aline De Lima earned Big 12 Soccer Championship Offensive Most Outstanding Player honors, becoming just the third Baylor player to do so, joining Courtney Saunders (1996) and Dana Larsen (2012).
Baylor also placed five players on the Big 12 All-Tournament Team: defenders Precious Akanyirige and King, midfielders De Lima and Julie James and forward Piercy.
With the championship victory, Baylor secured the Big 12’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, completing a six-year climb back to the postseason.
What began as a breakthrough in 2017 became a blueprint in 2018. Baylor entered the new season with a target on its back and a mission to turn one magical run into a lasting legacy.
And a legacy they created — growing from a 13-win team into a 20-win powerhouse that delivered Baylor its 105th Big 12 championship and the fourth in soccer program history.
Led by a veteran core that included Julie James and Camryn Wendlandt, the Bears embraced the pressure that came with being defending champions. They finished the regular season 20-6 overall and 8-1 in Big 12 play, their most dominant stretch under Jobson.
In a 1-0 win over Oklahoma to close the regular season, Wendlandt’s early strike sealed Baylor’s Big 12 regular-season title and 12th shutout of the year, solidifying one of the stingiest defenses in the country. The Bears climbed as high as No. 9 in the national rankings and earned another postseason bid, culminating in their second straight trip to the NCAA Elite Eight.
“To be able to turn around and do it again the next year — back-to-back Big 12 champions and Elite Eight runs — it was special,” Jobson said. “That group really bought into our vision.”
If 2017 was the season Baylor found belief, 2018 was when it found its identity — a team that didn’t just surprise people but set the standard for what Baylor soccer could be.
Thirty years of Baylor soccer, back-to-back years of Big 12 dominance and a legacy that still echoes through the program today. Those 2017 and 2018 teams didn’t just win championships — they changed what was possible.
Now, seven years later, a new generation of Bears carries that same belief into another postseason, chasing a Big 12 title of their own and writing the next chapter in Baylor’s story.
