Baylor Soccer Speeds Past Houston, 3-0

HOUSTON — Baylor Soccer won its second game of the year and its second in three games as they topped the Houston Cougars 3-0 Thursday night.

The Bears got off to a hot start grabbing an 8th-minute goal thanks to a Hallie Augustyn header. It came off of a corner kick delivered by Gabby Mueller and set the tone for a good night of chance creation for the green and gold.

In the 28th minute, Ashley Merrill doubled the Baylor lead in very similar fashion. Jenna Patterson’s corner found Merrill’s head and it was going nowhere but the back of the net after that.

Merrill’s aerial prowess was noted by Mueller in the midweek presser on Wednesday in fact. Some nice foreshadowing in hindsight. And it will be noted by opponents that both of Merrill’s regular season goals have come this way.

The final security goal for the Bears was scored by Maddie Algya in the 62nd minute. After being sent down the right wing by Jenna Patterson, Algya rifled the ball in towards the goal testing the Houston keeper at the near post. The ball squeaked between the keeper and the post and found the opposite side netting for a goal. 3-0.

The Bears we not perfect tonight, with plenty of good chances wasted offensively and an equal share of defensive mistakes and turnovers.

For a 3-0 game, the stats were rather even. Baylor registered 10 shots with seven on goal and six corners. Houston worked for 15 shots, putting 10 on goal and winning 10 corners. Those numbers are especially surprising to me with the Bears not sitting back after building their lead.

The biggest difference makers in the match were Baylor’s execution on set pieces (corners) and Lauren Traywick out-playing Houston keeper Haley Woodward.

Traywick was tested with back-to-back great shots from distance by Houston’s Samantha Wiehe, but Traywick made two jumping saves. The first she tipped onto the crossbar and the second she tipped over. That was in the 20th minute to protect a narrow 1-0 lead.

LT had to make another double save in the 48th minute with a 2-0 lead. The Cougars started the second half strong, and Wiehe knifed past Ava Colberg and the rest of the Bears’ defense. Traywick was up to the challenge though.

Overall, the game had rapid, end-to-end action that the Bears took better advantage of.

Surely coach Lenard would like to tighten things up defensively, create even more pressure offensively, and covert their chances at a higher rate. However, tonight was a good step in the right direction. The Bears mostly kept the game under control. A goal from Houston at any point could have greatly changed things but between Traywick and the defense, the “no goal patrol” kept the pressure on the Cougars and let the attackers feel freer up front.

23 different players saw the field for Baylor tonight, including Madison Martin in goal for the last ten minutes and Hallie Augustyn netting her first career goal.

WotM: Lauren Traywick — Back to back and “stealing” it from Hallie Augustyn, LT held it down in front of goal and that meant everything to a relatively “easy” second half for the Bears. The game could have been completely different without even just one of her 9 saves.

Up Next: vs Iowa Sunday 9/4 7 PM on ESPN+