Despite a close first-half battle in round one of the NCAA Tournament, the No. 5 Baylor Bears (13-4-4, 7-3-1 Big 12) drew the end of the line on Texas State soccer’s (10-4-7, 5-1-4 SBC) historic season by defeating the Bobcats 3-0 Saturday night at Betty Lou Mays Field in Waco, Texas.
The Bobcats hit the road for Waco after claiming victory in the Sun Belt Tournament against the University of Louisiana Monroe 3-0 in the championship game, earning their entrance to the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m very proud of them and all that they’ve accomplished; not everybody gets to lift a trophy, as you know, we won the Sun Belt and that was an incredible feat,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “We just kind of ran out of steam there at the end; Baylor is very good and certainly deserves to go on.”
A competitive energy filled the air as the Bobcats and Bears took the field to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” blasting through the stadium speakers as the players anticipated the 90 minutes that stood between them and a ticket to round two of the NCAA Tournament.
Both squads got moving with an intense but controlled style of play, neither attempting high-risk play within the first ten minutes. Texas State assessed its opponent carefully, keeping a tightly held back line with strong support of deep-sinking midfielders.
As the game surpassed the ten-minute mark, plays began to heat up, with each offense taking its share of risks for a chance at the back of the net. Within one minute, Texas State and Baylor made their first attempts at the goal, though both were unsuccessful.
The Bobcats held their ground against the bears, moving the ball steadily through the back line and feeding in plays that carefully worked up the flanks and up the field with finesse from players such as senior forward Mady Soumare and sophomore midfielder Helen Alormenu.
Despite Texas State’s six total shots in the first half, it was one attempt in the 36th minute that put Baylor on the scoreboard.
Amid the chaos of a crowded Texas State box, Baylor’s sophomore midfielder Kai Hayes prevailed, getting her head on a ball flown in by a cross, ultimately sinking the ball for the first goal of the night.
Texas State began to show the wear from a long conference tournament in the second half, struggling to find as many opportunities out of the gate but still managing the back line to limit the Bears’ attack.
In the 61st minute, Baylor was awarded a free kick off a foul where a long shot was set up and fired in to Bobcat freshman goalkeeper Brooklyn Escobar, who deflected the initial attack that was followed up by Baylor’s senior defender Hallie Augustyn to advance their lead to 2-0.
The Bobcats continued to push on despite the scoreboard, utilizing the bench to support the many players fighting through small injuries on the field.
Baylor set a score difficult to come back from when freshman midfielder Olivia Hess sent a long shot straight to the top left corner, gaining the 3-0 lead in the 66th minute of the match.
The Bobcats continued to fight back, attempting four shots following Baylor’s third goal, but couldn’t quite come up with an attack to put them on the scoreboard.
The end of the match marks the last game for five seniors: Addison Peters, Chloe Jones, Grace Reddic, Angela Gatto, Alexis Neal and graduate student Kennley Bradley.
“Every single year I’d go into my end-of-year meetings and they’d be like, ‘one step closer to playing the way we want to,'” Jones said. “I think I’m just so happy that I get to leave this program; I think a lot better than how it was when I got here.”
The Bobcats now get a break for the first time in months until returning in the spring for final preparations as they head to the PAC-12 with a fresh slate of opponents.
