Isgrig, Bears Outlast Aggies 1-0 as Baylor Soccer Continues Four-Game Heater
WACO, Texas — Baylor Soccer (4-1) earned its biggest win of the year and the biggest win of the Michelle Lenard era on Friday night beating former Big 12 foe Texas A&M 1-0 for a fourth win in a row. This also marks the Bears’ first win over the Aggies since 2000.
Tyler Isgrig scored the lone goal; an absolute banger of a shot towards the upper right corner of the goal in the 85th minute of play. The junior forward had driven in from the right wing toward the top and center of the Aggie box where she fired her shot off.
“I don't think I've ever celebrated that much in my life,” Isgrig said of her reactions to scoring, “but I was super excited. Just as a whole team effort, we really deserved it.”
That goal not only lifted the Bears, but it helped sink Texas A&M further away from the national top 25, where they started the year.
With such a low-scoring affair, both goalkeepers were in the spotlight. Baylor’s Azul Alvarez, who transferred in from TCU during the offseason, has not shied away from that pressure since donning the green and gold.
She commanded her box well, cleared free kicks and corners and made the one save that she needed to make.
As former teammates in Fort Worth, Isgrig hyped her home girl up after the game saying, “I've been waiting for her to get this opportunity for like, the last two years, and finally she came here. She brings so much stability in the back and so much more confidence for everyone in the field and has such a presence.”
Azul for her part brought the focus back on the team’s efforts as a whole and praised the defenders directly in front of her.
“I feel so confident in them. They give 100% every tackle. Like they when they switch, they're just very focused and locked in. And we need that in the back line. I just feel so confident and happy with them.”
Head Coach Michelle Lenard went further saying, “Unbelievable. It's like a totally different group of kids, and it's the same kids, right? The same ones that played in the game last year against A&M.”
Lenard went on to mention how Natalie Vatter and Ava Colberg played possibly their best games do date, how Marissa provides “a presence” that has helped greatly, and how Hallie Augustyn is possibly the single most underrated player in the Big 12.
Other standout performers on the night were Theresa McCullough and Hannah Boughton. McCullough provided Baylor’s best scoring chance prior to Isgrig’s goal with a curler from the left wing around the 60th minute. Meanwhile, Boughton was a spark off the bench and put in a good shift pressing late to help close out the game.
After the game, with the win under their belt and in the spirit of Coach Lenard’s birthday this past Monday, the celebratory mood led to players attempting an impromptu ice bath for their coach, but they missed the mark by a couple of feet.
Coach Lenard helped to clarify just how much this performance and result mean to the program and why the joy has been hard-earned.
“This game today was about us not just winning, but deserving to win, and controlling large portions of the game. These are things we've been working on now for years. And so it feels great just to come out here and feel satisfied at the end of a 90-minute game that we gave our best, that we really deserve to come out on top.”
Now, the Bears must go on the road for contests with SMU and Iowa next Thursday and Sunday respectively. The Green and Gold will be ready though, their coach has them in the right headspace and the whole program might be turning a corner like they thought they could heading into the year.