Bears strike early, hang on through crazy finish to beat TCU 2-1

Taylor moon scored a brilliant first-half goal and Elizabeth Kooiman matched that with an awesome solo effort in the second half to extend the lead to 2-0. However, TCU never stopped pressuring the Bears and a penalty to halve the deficit made for a frantic and nervy finish.

In the end, Baylor held on to move to 2-0 in the conference, snag a top 10 win, and deliver the Horned Frogs their second loss of the year.

This was the Bears' biggest test of the year so far. After topping Oklahoma State 2-1 in Stillwater on Thursday, the green and gold found their way to Fort Worth for a matchup with the #8 TCU Horned Frogs. 

The first half started somewhat slowly with both teams feeling each other out. The frogs appeared happy to let Baylor try to keep possession while they looked to abuse the space between a high defensive line and goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt.

After four minutes, TCU started to produce some good chances. Frogs forwards rocketed shots high and wide in the 4th and 8th minutes. 

Then it was Baylor’s turn to mount an attack. Kooiman stole the ball off a TCU defender and sent a nice cross in from the left wing for Mackenzie Anthony. Anthony could not control the pass and her shot safely went out for a goal kick.

After clearing a dangerous TCU free kick from their own half, the green and gold went on the attack. Maddie Algya slipped a pass to Taylor Moon in the center of the field where she turned and fired from about 20 yards out. The shot bent and dipped away from the keeper and into the back of the net. 1-0 with 13 minutes gone.

The rest of the half generally followed the pattern of TCU possession for a few minutes, then Baylor attack, rinse and repeat. 

The Frogs did seem to be slowly getting closer to a goal, but Jennifer Wandt was up to every task if the ball even got past the Baylor backline to her. 

Ava Colberg particularly had a great day cutting out dangerous opportunities and playing a full 90 minutes.

In the 38th minute, after the first decent spell of possession for the green and gold in a while, Olivia Mack found herself with the ball and a little space around the TCU box, but she didn’t get a clean strike on the ball and it went wide of goal. 

That was Baylor’s last good chance of the half, but thee Frogs had some Moree action left in them. In the last minute of the half, TCU sent a long ball towards the Baylor box. Wandt raced off her linen got a piece of it, but TCU controlled the ball with the Bears’ goal wide open. That's when Kayley Ables, Sarah Norman, Sarah Hornyak, and Colberg found a way to stifle all attackers until Wandt could get back in position. Wandt save the eventual shot and Baylor made it to halftime with their 1-0 lead intact.

At the start of the second half, the Bears seemed to adjust and keep more possession. Both teams had good shots early on with a Frogs’ miss in the 48th minute and a Mack Anthony shot saved in the 49th. 

Only a minute later, Elizabeth Kooiman found herself with the ball and a chance for a one-on-one on the left side of the TCU box. She drove at the defender, cut inside and unleashed a shot that was just too powerful for the Frogs’ keeper. It went through her fingertips and into the back of the net to double Baylor’s lead. 2-0.

From there, TCU pinned the green and gold back for nearly the rest of the game. Wandt made a nice save in the 53rd, a good clearance in the 67th off a dangerous back pass, plus more saves in the 70th and 75th minutes.

With teen minutes to go and Baylor still up by two, the Horned Frogs were throwing everyone forward whenever they could. One corner kick in the 80th minute was well taken and gave TCU a free header on goal from about 6 yards out. Luckily Wandt was in the perfect place and it came straight to her. Another big save.

With seven minutes left, things were getting chippy and Baylor may have been getting tired after having to defend a lead in a similar way Thursday night. Sarah Hornyak made a rough challenge and was shown a yellow card.

The resulting free-kick was in a dangerous position and TCU chose to run a creative set-piece routine, but substitute midfielder Giuliana Cunningham (#23) read it perfectly and cut the play off before it ever became dangerous. 

The Bears couldn’t stay perfect for the full 90 today though. The very next minute, a TCU cross from the right wing hit Cunningham in the arm for a handball and a penalty to the Frogs.

Grace Collins stepped up and slotted the penalty past Wandt to make it 2-1 and set up a crazy final six minutes.

A shot over the crossbar in the 85th, a corner cleared in the 87th, and a free-kick cleared in the 89th after Taylor moon received a yellow card for shoving a Horned Frog were all parts of the constant, immense pressure the Bears were under.

Then, in the very last minute of the game, Camryn Lancaster (#21) sent a chipped shot in at Wandt’s goal. It was perfectly placed just over Wandt and deflected down off the crossbar. It bounced off the goal line and out for Wandt to snag, but it might have gone fully over. The sideline ref did not appear to be in a position to make the call, so the goal was not given. 

Watching the replay after the game, the call would have come down to centimeters or possibly even millimeters. Whatever the truth is, the Bears held on for the next 30 seconds and finished their road trip 2-0.

Despite the craziness and lack of possession, the Bears were the better team today. They took their chances well and defended with a lot of heart. 

With this kind of start to conference play, there is no reason to doubt that the regular-season conference crown is an achievable goal for this team.

It will be interesting to see if they can keep winning the close games and extend their unbeaten streak past eight games.

WotM: Jennifer Wandt - She had so many shots and crosses coming her way today, and she made every save she had to. Absolutely massive performance from her today.

Quick note: I will be shocked if Taylor moon doesn’t win conference attacker of the week for her two amazing goals in the last two games. I might not have given her woman of the match in either but she has been big for this team.

Up Next: vs. Texas Tech (Thu. 9/30 7 PM) - Another team undefeated in the conference. The best competition has lined up for Baylor here at the start of the Big 12 schedule.