Preview: Baylor soccer starts sunflower state trip with Jayhawks

WACO, Texas – The 7-2-3, #23 ranked Bears are heading up to Lawrence, Kansas for their Big 12 matchup with the 5-8-1 Jayhawks. Baylor has not lost in its last 9 contests and sits second in the conference standings with nine points and a game in hand on the leader Texas. The Thursday night game starts at 7 PM and will be available on ESPN+.

Coach Jobson will look to improve on his 3-4-0 record as head coach against Kansas. Senior forward Taylor Moon could help that cause by extending her three-game scoring streak, but another solid performance from in-form and all-conference keeper Jennifer Wandt is a necessity. 

Hear from Jennifer Wandt herself on the team’s mindset heading into the road trip:

The Jayhawks have been on a tough run lately, losing their first four conference games by a combined score of 2-7. They made the reverse of Baylor’s road trip to start Big 12 play with games at TCU then at Oklahoma State. 

This past week Kansas hosted rivals Kansas State and then traveled to Ames, Iowa. Both losses were by a single goal. 

This Jayhawks team will be hungry and possibly even desperate to earn a positive result with missing the conference tournament creeping up as a possibility. 

Despite the results, this Kansas team will be prepared for the physical style of play that the Bears bring with them. Coach Mark Francis is 242-197-41 in his 22 years at the head of the Jayhawks program and lead his team to the conference regular-season title in 2004 and the conference tournament title in 2019.

This year Kansas has struggled to score, netting only 13 goals in 14 games. However, Baylor has given up four goals in its three conference games so either team could start reversing those trends pretty easily.

Kansas seems to prefer a more technical and open style of play compared to Baylor's grit and physicality. Coach Jobson went into a bit more depth on how the Bears matchup with both Kansas and Kansas State in his midweek interview Wednesday morning:

Part of Kansas’ open style is their attacking on the wings, where they have won 31 more corner kicks than Baylor. Many of the chances leading to these corners were created by midfielder Rylan Childers (#9) and forward Brie Severns (#12). These two have combined for a quarter of the Jayhawks’ shots this year, half of their assists, and five of their 13 goals.

At the other end of the field, Kansas is finally getting settled with a consistent goalkeeper. #18 Emilie Gavillet is expected to make her sixth start while opening day starter and previous Big 12 keeper-of-the-week winner Sarah Peters is out with an injury. 

If Baylor can impose its tougher style of play on the Jayhawks, they might only need to get one shot past Gavillet.

If Baylor does score, Mackenzie Anthony will probably have played a role in the goal. The sophomore forward has been involved in nine goals so far this year and spoke with the media Wednesday morning:

The Bottom Line: Baylor needs to keep the good things rolling. That means making Kansas play a physical game. Baylor can adapt and succeed, but it will be much better if they force Kansas out of their comfort zone. I don't expect Kansas to get their first conference win Thursday.