Baylor gets jumped early, can't complete comeback losing to Kansas 2-1
LAWRENCE, Kansas - The previously winless in conference Kansas Jayhawks jumped on Baylor Soccer early with a 4th-minute penalty and a 12th-minute goal to build a quick 2-0 lead. The Bears were a step slower most of the night, and could not get on the board until the 80th minute thanks to a Kayley Ables goal. The Jayhawks held on to deal the green-and-gold their first Big 12 loss of the season, 2-1.
Maybe the Bears felt too comfortable after starting Big 12 play with three impressive wins. Maybe they were tired from a long bus ride up to Lawrence. Maybe they just weren’t in the right mindset for a battle tonight. Whatever the reason, Baylor was a step slower than Kansas in the first half and it cost them big time.
Just four minutes in, Kansas forward Brie Severns (#12) was played in on goal by a great pass right through the middle of the Baylor defense. As she was running onto it, Kayley Ables and Ava Colberg sandwiched Severns. Contact was made before the group entered Baylor’s 18-yard box, and Severns fell to the turf just past the penalty spot.
The ref instantly pointed to the spot for a penalty despite the foul appearing to start outside the box. Rylan Childers (#9) stepped up and cooly put the ball high and left past Jennifer Wandt. Kansas got a 1-0 lead and Ables got a yellow card.
The Bears tried to respond immediately, with Mackenzie Anthony drawing a foul just outside of the Jayhawks' box in the 7th minute. The resulting free-kick was very well taken by Ally Henderson-Ashkinos, but her curling low shot was saved by Kansas keeper Emilie Gavillet (#18).
It looked as if Baylor would settle into the game at this point, but Severns dashed those hopes by dashing straight through the heart of Baylor’s defense yet again.
In an eerily similar sequence to the 4th-minute penalty, Severns ran onto a great through-ball down the middle. This time, she had completely beaten the defense and found herself alone and free against Wandt. She poked the ball right past the all-conference keeper and gave the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead.
The speed of Kansas was really on display in the first half and not just in their goals. The Jayhawk defenders did a great job making life tough for Mackenzie Anthony, Taylor Moon and Elizabeth Kooiman.
In the 20th minute, Mackenzie Anthony found herself behind the entire Kansas defense with the ball near midfield. Before she even reached the 18-yard box the defenders had caught up to her and dispossessed her.
As halftime neared, the Bears started to find better footing. Taylor Moon in particular started causing problems for Kansas. She won the ball near the KU box in the 30th minute and shuffled it to Anthony, who then fed Elizabeth Kooiman on the left side. Kooiman sent a chipped shot in and it beat the keeper but could not sneak under the crossbar.
That was Baylor’s best chance of the first half and could have changed the whole complexion of the game if it had gone in. Sadly it did not, and sadly no better chance came before halftime.
Another good chance might have come in the 42nd minute, however, the referee stopped play just as Baylor was about to play the ball into Kansas’ box. He had missed Lorelai Stramrood getting a bloody nose moments earlier, and only realized it once Baylor had kept forming their attack. Had he stopped play earlier, no damage would have been done. If he had waited for the attack to play out, Kansas could not have complained.
The way things played out, Baylor was given a drop ball just outside the Kansas box and it came to nothing. The Bears went into halftime down 2-0.
During his halftime interview, Kansas coach Mark Francis said “We out-competed them, and that
doesn’t normally happen.” I don’t think there is a better way to recap the first half than that.
When the green-and-gold started the second half, they no longer looked a step slower. Moon in particular took the fight to the Jayhawk defense winning free-kicks in the 47th and 49th minutes.
While the speed and effort were back to normal in the second half, the Bears’ attack was still disjointed. The Jayhawks seemed to know exactly what Anthony was planning on doing every time she touched the ball.
When Gabby Mueller made a brilliant turn to shake two defenders in the 56th minute, she pulled the trigger from very far out instead of driving deeper towards the box. Little things like this, or not playing the ball to the same place teammates were making runs to were problems tonight for the Bears.
The chances did keep coming though. In the 57th minute, Moon won another free-kick and the resulting play found Colberg getting a shot off from about 8 yards out. The ball just couldn’t find its way through the crowd in front of goal.
Moon also had a very good curling shot go barely wide of goal soon after that.
Then with about 25 minutes left in the match, frustration started to come closer to the surface. Mueller was shown a yellow card for a rough challenge and the Baylor bench was shown one as well for their reaction to the call.
Kansas tried to pounce right then and put the contest on ice, but Wandt made a good save to keep the deficit at two.
From then on, Baylor’s attack was almost all Taylor Moon. She forced a good save from Gavillet in the 66th minute, and had a shout for a penalty in the 76th minute. The ref was never in doubt on his no-call though. Moon wasn’t done though, forcing another save from the Kansas keeper a minute later.
Just when it seemed like Baylor wouldn’t be able to start a comeback, the Bears won a corner and found a way to beat Gavillet. In the 80th minute, after Kansas had half-cleared the corner kick, Mueller sent the ball back into the box where Kayley Ables sent a shot looping over the keeper and giving Baylor a lifeline. 2-1 with ten minutes left.
The goal was the first of Ables’ Baylor career in her 65th game for the Bears.
Sadly, this would not be another crazy comeback like the Oregon game from non-conference play. Kansas locked down the Bears for the last ten minutes and completed the upset of the newly ranked Bears.
Baylor falls to 7-3-3 and 3-1-0 in conference. Kansas improved to 6-8-1 and 1-4-0 in conference. The loss hurts Baylor’s hopes of winning the regular-season Big 12 title, but West Virginia drew with Kansas State tonight, so the loss is not as painful as it might have been in the standings.
The Bears will still probably need to win seven conference games at least to take home the crown.
WotM: It was a tough night for the team, but Taylor Moon was clearly the best player for the Bears tonight.
Up Next: @Kansas State (Sun. 10/10 1 PM)