Baylor Soccer Tops Kansas 3-2 with Thrilling Late Comeback

WACO, Texas — Baylor Soccer (3-6-2, 1-2-0) scored a pair of late goals to steal a 3-2 victory from the Kansas Jayhawks Thursday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.

Freshmen center forward Reneta Vargas bookended the Bears’ scoring with her 17th-minute opener and a 90th-minute winner.

In between, 20th-minute and 49th-minute goals by Kansas put the green and gold down 2-1. Ashley Merrill got on the end of a great Sarah Hornyak cross for a headed equalizer in the 88th minute though to set up the frantic finish.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever needed something as much as we needed that, right now at this point in the season,” said Baylor head coach Michelle Lenard after the game.

“We've always been just right there,” added attacking midfielder Ashley Merrill, “but we were tired of being just right there. And I think with this win, I don't wanna say it turns us, but it sets a tone where it's like, 'we can win'. Like we can beat good teams.”

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The release of emotion was massive from the team after each goal.

In the 17th minute, Gabby Mueller stole the ball in her counter press and easily fed Vargas in a 2-on-1. Vargas calmly and cooly sent the ball past the keeper to end a scoring drought that was nearly at four full games.

The players on the field were ecstatic and the bench went crazy.

Sadly, as Coach Lenard herself has noted, the first five minutes after a goal are critical. Kansas stepped up to the plate and tied things up 1-1.

There were shouts from the Baylor defenders for an offside call, but the goal that was easily put past Lauren Traywick stood.

Then, just four minutes into the second half, the Jayhawks earned a corner and the Bears left someone wide open on the far post. It was an easy header underneath Traywick for a 2-1 lead.

Despite the scoreline and time dwindling away, the Bears did not back down or give up.

In the 62nd minute, Ashley Merrill was driving into the Kansas box when she was taken down. It was a decent tackle going for the ball, but there was a lot of contact and every chance that a ref would call for a penalty. No call was made.

Then, with just two full minutes remaining in the game, Merrill stepped up and found the perfect spot for a team-leading third time this year.

Sarah Hornyak had the ball in the right wing and sent the perfect cross in for the Frisco native. Merrill got her head to it and sent the ball bouncing into the back of the net. 2-2.

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“It was amazing. We really needed that goal to tie us up and I think that we all just wanted it really bad,” Merrill said after the game. “And that work from players like Gabby and Sarah to get that ball down the line and grit just to get the ball in. An amazing ball by Sarah, and everyone coming together in that moment after… everyone celebrating together just brought us so much momentum for the third goal. So it was awesome.”

We will get to the winning goal in a second, but first here is coach Lenard’s take on the tying score. Mind you Lenard has been coaching Merrill for three years now, with them both coming from Dallas Baptist in the offseason.

“If we can get the ball on Ashley’s head in the box, she’s always going to be a weapon. We’ve had a hard time connecting with her recently. So, as soon as it came off Sarah’s foot, I was standing right behind her, I knew.”

Now for the thrilling winner:

With many in the crowd feeling lucky that Baylor had all but secured a tie, the Bears on the field pushed for more.

With 1:02 left on the clock, the Bears won a corner. Haven Terry rushed over to take the kick and she sent it in. Just past the top left corner of the Kansas 6-yard box, Hallie Augustyn rushed to get anything she could on the ball.

After Augustyn’s header bounced around, it found Reneta Vargas drifting to the near post.

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Reneta Vargas

Vargas, half turning, swung at the ball with her left foot and sent it into the bottom of the crossbar. 3-2 Baylor with 47 seconds to play.

It was everything the Bears have needed lately. Any score would do, but a scrappy score after a gritty, last-minute comeback was as perfect as anyone in the Baylor Soccer program would ask for.

“I couldn’t do it without my team,” said Vargas after the game, “I’ve been out for about two months already, so it was a great feeling just coming back on the field and playing with my team. I just couldn’t do it without them.”

When trying to replay the sequence in her head, Vargas had this to say:

“I didn’t see anyone on the keeper and I felt like that ball was going to go straight to the keeper. And it didn’t, but Hallie won that and then I was just at the right spot and just kicked it in and it went in.”

Coach Lenard for her part offered some insight on what Vargas brings to the team and the field which might help explain how the center forward was right where she needed to be.

“A lot of her game is a little bit of streetball. She’s able to solve problems in different ways and be very creative and just be very intuitive.”

After the final whistle blew, all the Bears rushed over to dog-pile Vargas on the field. It felt like a dam was bursting. Whether that was just emotions or even on-field pressure remains to be seen.

“I think it just shows the team what we're really capable of,” remarked Lenard. “We've talked about these situations so much and we've been close a lot, and just not been able to find a difference-maker in those situations.”

Vargas made the difference tonight. The team can now move forward with confidence that any one of them could make the difference on Sunday against Kansas State or further along in the season.

“I think we needed a win,” said Ashley Merrill.

In so many ways — morale, standings, mentality, pressure — they did. And they earned every bit of this one.

“What I’m most proud of is just the relentless effort,” said Coach Lenard.

Now can they recover, reset, and produce again on Sunday? That’s the only question left after this crazy night.

WotM: Reneta Vargas - 3 shots, 2 goals, 48 minutes. More details? See above.

Up Next: Kansas State 12 PM (Noon) Sunday 10/9 ESPN+

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