Baylor Soccer Prepares for Big 12 Matchup with No. 6 BYU
Baylor Soccer (5-3-1) welcomes No. 6 BYU (7-1-1) into Waco tomorrow night for the second conference matchup of the year and the Bears’ second matchup with a ranked opponent this season.
The road through the Big 12 gets no easier on Sunday with No. 25 Texas Tech coming to town, but the team is solely focused on the task ahead of them: the Cougars.
“A great team on the ball, they like to move the ball,” said Baylor head coach Michelle Lenard of BYU. “They're athletic. But what they've shown in the last couple of games that anything can happen in the NCAA. So they were number one. Now they're number six.”
Those last couple of games have been a 3-3 draw with TCU and 1-0 upset loss to Utah State.
“While they're going to be a good opponent, I don't think it's anything we need to be scared of,” said freshman forward Skylark Zinnecker. “I think we'll respect them.”
So where on the field will the outcome of the game tip one way or the other? Well, Coach Lenard points to both Zinnecker’s position group and their counterparts on the Cougars.
“Where [BYU are] really specialists is in the final third. They're aggressive, they're brave, and they're dangerous from a lot of different places on the field.”
So when asked whether it was the midfield or another group for the Bears that would make or break the game, Lenard looked to her own forwards.
“I think our front line is [the make or break area]. I think that we can get out, we can build through the midfield. Our frontline has got to be able to help us get out of our half of the field and create some quality chances on the other end. The games are won and lost in the boxes.”
It’s as simple as that. Chance conversion — goal scoring — is the name of the game.
But there are other focuses for the Bears as well. After alternating wins and losses through the last five games, Baylor will look to break the streak and establish more consistency.
The keys to that were listed by Coach Lenard: “It's about being able to play with that level of physicality and intensity and also the composure that we need in the right moments.”
If the Bears come out and do those things, they are that much more likely to convert their chances and winning follows that naturally. Now they just have to do it against high-level competition.
“Playing the best in the country is a great opportunity for us to see where we are, where we want to go and an opportunity to come away with a point or two or point or three,” said Coach Lenard, “And we genuinely feel like we have a chance to do that.”
And sophomore midfielder Skye Leach showed where the players are at mentally about the test in front of them by saying, “I’m really excited. I think it's awesome. And it goes back to the saying where it's like, you can't be the best without playing the best.”
Tomorrow night, we will see if the Bears have taken another step towards their goal.