Bears Bag Second Big 12 Win, Beat Sun Devils 4-0

WACO, Texas — Baylor Soccer earned a much-needed win, beating the Arizona State Sun Devils 4-0 to earn the second Big 12 win for the Bears this season. 

After two weeks without a win or multiple goals in a single game, the Bears poured in four goals on 16 shots. A Tyler Isgrig corner went directly in with a minor deflection from a defender for the opener in the 11th minute, then Ashley Merrill and Hannah Augustyn added goals on either side of halftime to make it 3-0. Finally, Callie Conrad capped things off with a late goal after she evaded a scrambling ASU keeper.

This is the second time this season the Bears have scored four in a game, the other being against Houston back on September 22nd. This performance was also one goal shy of the Bears’ season-high five goals that they scored on St. Bonaventure in the home opener.

“It was really important,” said Baylor head coach Michelle Lenard, “For just our mental state right now, to get back out there and create chances and finish some really good opportunities; to lead a game and stay in control of the game.”

It took the Bears a handful of minutes to settle into the game with Arizona State creating some good chances in the first five-to-ten minutes, but the Bears took control after that and did not let up.

“They were playing a shape that was kind of hard to identify honestly,” said Coach Lenard, “And I thought our players did a really good job of figuring out how to manage that once we got through that first five minutes and settled down.”

Settling down is always easier with a lead, and junior forward Tyler Isgrig delivered that with a well-placed corner kick toward the near upper corner of the goal in the 11th minute. An ASU defender right in front of the goalie gave the ball a flick-on header that prevented the keeper from punching it away. 1-0 Baylor in the 11th minute.

Just ten minutes later, Callie Conrad found herself with the ball and space on the right wing. She sent a well-placed cross to the edge of the ASU six-yard box where Ashley Merrill caught it perfectly with her right foot before the ball could hit the ground. Merrill’s shot rocketed right over the keeper’s head and into the roof of the net. 2-0 Bears and a goal for one of the Seniors on Senior Night.

“We really wanted to target the wide space and the space behind their back line,” said Coach Lenard after the game, “And we scored a couple of really nice goals from that. The goal specifically in to Ashley was something we trained all week, and so four different goal scorers is always a great”

With a solid lead and trying to keep the pressure up, Coach Lenard started rotating players in off the bench to keep their legs fresh. 

“We got that center forward rotating early on, which I think helped us keep our foot on the gas in the press, which forced them to play more direct than they wanted to play, which was our goal.”

When all was said and done, 17 Bears got game action on the night including a debut for sophomore forward Caroline Staubach.

The second half was much the same as the first, with Baylor adapting to changes made by the Sun Devils and scoring even earlier.

Tyler Isgrig delivered another great set-piece ball, this time headed home by Hannah Augustyn from near the penalty spot. Just a beautiful play all around for the Bears to make it 3-0 in the 49th minute.

That was the third goal for Hannah Augustyn this season, tying her with her twin sister Hallie; a fun race to watch throughout this season.

“That third goal, I felt like, was going to change the game if we scored it,” said Coach Lenard, “It was going to be a mountain for them to climb. If they scored it, it was going to be a battle.”

The final goal came with just four minutes to play when Callie Conrad beat the Arizona State keeper to a ball at the right corner of the 18-yard box. She calmly chipped the last defender at the near post to arrive at the final score, 4-0.

Not to focus solely on one end of the field, the defense turned in another great performance for its fifth shutout of the year. Junior goalkeeper Azul Alvarez also made a career-high nine saves through the full 90 minutes.

This was an important win for Baylor who rise up to 9th in Big 12 with this result. On Sunday, the Bears host West Virginia for the home finale. The Mountaineers sit at 3rd in the Big 12 after a 3-1 loss to TCU tonight.

That game kicks off at 1 PM on Sunday at Betty Lou and the streaming will be available on ESPN+.