Bears fight past Cowgirls twice, take conference opener 2-1
Baylor Soccer found ways to break deadlocks at 0-0 and 1-1 to get their conference slate started the right way in Stillwater Thursday night.
Goals from Taylor Moon and Olivia Mack helped the Bears take all three points from the Cowgirls and helped Paul Jobson improve to 7-3-1 against Oklahoma State as head coach.
The green and gold took about ten minutes to fully settle into the game, sparking fears that they would give up an early goal.
However, the Baylor backline, who apparently likes to call themselves the “no-goal patrol”, lived up to their own billing. Kayley Ables and company held down the fort until the offense and midfield could kick into gear.
Maddie Algya was the driving force behind the offense in the first half. She settled the ball well and fed the front three. The Junior midfielder also tested the Oklahoma State keeper with multiple long-range shots, the most dangerous of which had to be tipped over the crossbar in the 14th minute.
The Oklahoma State attack never fully went away though. With every loose ball or clearance from their defensive half, the Cowgirls were threatening with a breakaway. Gabriella Coleman (#42) was trouble for Sarah Hornyak on the right side of the Baylor defense and helped the Pokes win four corners in each half.
The game truly went end to end in the later parts of the first half, with Taylor Moon and Elizabeth Kooiman forcing decisive action out of OSU keeper Evie Vitali. Moon also had some nice passages of play with Mackenzie Anthony, but the Bears were not able to capitalize on any chances.
Then in the 28th minute, Anthony slipped a pass to Moon in the center of the field and about 30 yards from goal. The senior forward uncorked a dipping shot that bounced past Vitali and into the right side of the net. Baylor broke the deadlock and seized a 1-0 lead.
It was Taylor Moon's second goal of the season.
From there, Oklahoma State regrouped and came at the Bears with even more energy. With 14 minutes left in the half, Coleman found herself one-on-one with Jennifer Wandt but could not get the ball past Baylor’s all-conference keeper. It was a great job by Wandt of getting big and getting a piece of the shot.
The rest of the half saw action at both ends, but no chances either team would regret missing at the end of the night.
The halftime stats were fairly even with the Bears leading in shots 6-5, but the green and gold put four on goal compared to the Cowgirls one.
Oklahoma State came out of halftime on the front foot, and the physicality took a step up in the second period.
Ally Henderson-Ashkinos received a yellow card four minutes into the half, but overall the Bears looked to have settled back into the game.
Then with only 25 minutes between them and three points, the Baylor defense was dissected by a Charme Morgan cross. Olyvia Dowell (#30) found her way onto the end of it in the Bears' box and hit a great first-time shot past a leaping Wandt to equalize.1-1.
Credit goes to Baylor for their response though. With the physicality ramping up, the ref cracking down in an inconsistent manner, and time running out to take back the lead, the green and gold stayed resolved and even-keeled.
Taylor Moon earned herself a yellow card with a series of fouls in the 66th minute, but they kept working.
The Cowgirls bench got a yellow a minute later. Baylor kept working.
Maddie Algya got a yellow for a rough challenge the very next minute. They kept working.
And that work paid off only four minutes later. The ref made another ticky-tack foul call to give Baylor a free kick near midfield. Everyone poured forward as Wandt sent a ball into the OSU box. Lorelai Stramrood knocked it on and Olivia Mack was able to beat multiple Cowgirls defenders to get the decisive touch on the ball. It looped past Vitali and put Baylor up 2-1.
This was Mack's first goal of the year and the second of her Baylor career.
The goal was reminiscent of Haven Terry’s winner against SMU in overtime, just a bit less dramatic. Wandt and Stramrood have now made free kicks from Baylor’s own half a dangerous set-piece.
After that goal, Baylor was bound to be under total siege for the remaining 18 minutes. Dowell kept finding dangerous areas in the middle of the Bear's defense and Sarah Hornyak, Kayley Ables, and everyone else had to put their bodies on the line to shut down the chances.
Perhaps OSU’s best chance to tie the game again came in the 83rd minute. The Cowgirls had won a free kick near midfield, and Wandt was cheating off her line a good bit. Kim Rodrigues (#26) took that opportunity to try a direct chip shot that sent Wandt scrambling. Luckily for the green and gold, the fifth-year senior was able to paw it over the crossbar.
There were a couple more nervy moments as the Bears saw out this grueling match, but they held on for the 2-1 win and the full three points. Players like Hornyak looked beat up by the end of the match, but the win has to feel that much better after that kind of fight.
WotM: Maddie Algya - She really bossed the midfield in the first half and helped get the Baylor attack going. Her play stood out the most on the night, all due respect to the goal-scorers.
Up Next: @ #8 TCU (Sun. 9/26 1 PM) - a battle of 1-0 teams in the Big 12