Baylor Soccer Batters St. Bonaventure in Home Opener, 5-2

WACO, Texas — The Baylor Soccer team (1-1-0) opened up the 2024 home slate in style with a 5-2 win over St. Bonaventure (0-2-0) Sunday night at Betty Lou Mayes Field.

Baylor star midfielder Ashley Merrill opened her scoring ledger for the season with back-to-back goals late in the first half, her second being the eventual game-winner.

The Bears scored three other times, one goal each from juniors Hannah and Hallie Augustyn plus an own goal from the Bonnies.

Through the first fifteen minutes or so, Baylor was not notably threatening in the attack courtesy of the guests.

“I thought St. Bonaventure came out and played really hard,” said Baylor Head Coach Michelle Lenard, “They were organized and disciplined in their defensive positioning.”

The Bears adjusted eventually and Hannah Augustyn opened the floodgates by lashing home a shot from near the penalty spot in the 19th minute. She found the ball after a free kick from the left wing was pinged around the box without an effective clearance.

Ten minutes later, Merrill doubled the Baylor lead. After receiving the ball from Hannah Boughton around 25 yards away from goal and in the middle of the field, the senior turned, got the ball out from her feet and picked her spot — the bottom left corner. Merrill wasn’t missing this one. 2-0 Baylor.

Not even three full minutes later sophomore Theresa McCullough slipped down the left wing and put in a low cross very close to the end line. The Bonnies scuffed a clearance and the ball fell right at Merrill’s feet at the edge of the six-yard box and she poked it home. 3-0 Baylor and a brace for Merrill in the first 32 minutes.

Two minutes later, with some fresh subs on, the Green and Gold got a fourth goal, this time courtesy of the Bonnies.

Graduate transfer Kai Hayes sent a cross in for sophomore Adriana Merriam to head toward goal. That shot was saved but the clearance was once again scuffed, but this time it deflected off of a fellow defender and into the back of the net. 4-0 Baylor in the 34th minute.

That would be the halftime scoreline, but it would not survive much past that with freshman defender Hilary Washington fouling St. Bonaventure in the box for a penalty in the 48th minute. Baylor goalie Ashlee Zirkel, who came on at the half for starter Azul Alvarez, could not rescue the tough situation. 4-1.

The second half saw Baylor heavily rotate its squad, fielding an entirely new 11 at one point. After the game Coach Lenard spoke on the importance of keeping her team fresh even so early in the season.

“We’ve been managing the load pretty carefully, even in the Mississippi State game, which, to be fair, is part of the reason why we had trouble establishing some chemistry today. We had a lot of rotations. That's all by design.”

This likely played into the Green and Gold not scoring more in the second half as well as the Bears giving up a second goal, this from open play in the 89th minute. 

Prior to that last goal of the game, Hallie Augustyn was able to match her twin by poking home yet another misplayed ball by a Bonnies defender in the 62nd minute.

Both twins scoring in a game is, to date, rare but it might happen again this year given the progress both players have shown since arriving at Baylor in 2022.

“The twins have looked great through preseason and been scoring in training all the time,” said Coach Lenard, “and they're great on set plays.” 

The Baylor head coach went on to say that she was happy to see Merrill get started on the score sheet for the year, and she would have liked to see a few more players join the list of scorers tonight.

Now the Bears quickly turn around and jet off to Hawaii for a pair of games on Wednesday and Sunday against Hawaii and Portland respectively. And the team knows they still have plenty to work on.

“Disappointed with our second-half performance,” said Coach Lenard, “We need better discipline in the second half and a little bit more of a ruthless mentality. So that'll be something that we're working on this week”

Up Next: Baylor at Hawaii Wednesday, August 21st