Preview: Baylor opens Big 12 play in Stillwater, mid-week pressers
The Bears head up to Stillwater to open conference play Thursday night, a place at which they haven’t won since 2016.
Coach Paul Jobson is an impressive 6-3-1 against Oklahoma State in his time as the head coach at Baylor, and his squad has not lost since August 26th against Nebraska.
The Cowgirls are 5-3-1 heading into this matchup, including a 1-0 loss at SMU and a 1-1 tie against Texas A&M. Their last loss was in Dallas to the mustangs two weeks ago.
Pokes midfielders Grace Yochum and Olyvia Dowell, plus defender Kim Rodriguez were preseason All-Big 12 team members. Yochum has also won one attacker of the week award from the conference. Evi Vitali has also won keeper of the week and freshman of the week in separate weeks for the Cowgirls as well, so those are their key players to look out for.
There is a minuscule statistical difference between the teams in shots, goals, assists and even fouls. Only corner kicks are noticeably different with the Pokes winning 58 while Baylor has only won 34. This could speak a bit to their attacking style though.
The Cowgirls like to get wide and attack fast, especially with counterattacks. This identity really
fits their preferred formation as of late, the 3-5-2. With a three-person backline, the wide midfielders can drop back and create a five-person backline when being attacked then fly forward to offer width in the attack. It’s a lot of running but it can easily pay off if they have great quick-burst ability for counter-attack chances.
If Kooiman and Moon can keep the wide defenders working most of the night, then some sting could be taken out of Oklahoma State’s attack. However, when under pressure, there will be that extra fifth defender back there to help shut down Moon, Anthony and Kooiman. (I’d like to call them the MAK Attack, but that just sounds like I’m singling out Mack Anthony.)
Back to Oklahoma State: Yochum and Rodriguez will try to control the midfield with Rodriguez staying more defensive and playing a destroyer type of role. This allows Yochum to press forward and spring attacks more, which she has done to great effect. In fact, she leads the Pokes with four goals. Tack an assist on and she has nine points from goal involvements (goals are two each and assists one).
Also, while Dowell might have been preseason all-Big 12, her strike partner Gabriella Coleman has bagged more goals so far this year with three. She also has two assists so both could cause problems.
For the Bears, Chloe Japic did not play against USF, and if she can’t play in Stillwater then that could be even more trouble against a team like the Pokes who like to attack with width.
The Cowgirls have also played in a 3-4-3 formation this year, but they seem to have moved away from it for the last four games or so. This matches closely, but not perfectly with the return of Rodriguez to their lineup, so if she is not on the field look out for a tactical shift towards this system.
In the broader scheme of things, this is a very good team that has been ranked this year and could easily find themselves ranked again later. However, this does not affect coach Jobson’s or the team’s goals for this game, which they talked about in their midweek pressers Wednesday morning.
Anthony, Kooiman, and coach Jobson all also talked about the USF game last Sunday and looked at their conference-opening road trip as a whole as well.
The Bottom Line: If their definition of a successful road trip is going 2-0, that has to start with a win Thursday night in Stillwater. I think they need to get on the front foot and stay there to have their best shot at doing that.