Baylor Soccer Readies For a Pair of Road Contests

This week Baylor Soccer plays two of its three remaining non-conference games. The matchups at SMU and at No. 22 Iowa are pivotal for the Bears to bolster their NCAA tournament resume before the slog of Big 12 play hits. Both opponents present significant challenges, but the Bears have every chance of winning both games.

The Following are notes provided by Baylor Athletics.

BAYLOR (4-1) at SMU (4-2)

Sept. 5, 2024 • 7 p.m. CT • Watch: ACCNX • Dallas, Texas • Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium

BAYLOR (4-1) at No. 22 IOWA (3-0-1)

Sept. 8, 2024 • 5 p.m. CT • Watch: Big 10+ • Iowa City, Iowa • Iowa Soccer Complex

Storylines

• Baylor is readying for a pair of road contests where they will face SMU Thursday, Sept. 5, before continuing to Iowa City to face the Hawkeyes on Sunday, Sept. 8.
• The 2024 season marks the 28th season of the Baylor Soccer program. During that time, BU has won four Big 12 titles, advanced to two Elite Eights and had four All-Americans to go with countless All-Big 12 and Academic All-Big 12 honorees.
• This season also marks the third year of the Michelle Lenard coaching era, as she was selected as the Bears sixth head coach in program history in December of 2021.
• With the new Big 12 teams joining the conference this season, the Bears will only play 11 of the 15 other opponents this season. The Bears will face all four of the new schools, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah. BU will not face Cincinnati, UCF, Kansas or Kansas State in regular season play.
• The Bears are 4-1 to open the season, falling to No. 18 Mississippi State in the season opener, 1-0, before turning around and defeating four-straight opponents. BU’s four-match win streak is the longest since the 2018 season when the Bears were Big 12 Champions and made it to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
• Baylor has a 33-person roster this season and features 25 returners and eight newcomers.
• Returning to the squad for the first time since the 2022 season in fifth-year Marissa Gray. After working for the past year and applying to PT school, Gray re-joined the Bears to use her fifth year of eligibility. She hasn’t seen playing time since the 2019 season due to injury but returns to the pitch as a veteran on the backline.
• This season the Bears roster features two international student-athletes for the first time since the 2017 season. Salma Simonin returns to Baylor from Manchester, United Kingdom and Hilary Washington joins the Bears from Wellesley, Ontario, Canada.
• Baylor took down Texas A&M in its lone match last week, 1-0. Tyler Isgrig found the back of the net for the first time this season off of an assist from Hannah Boughton, her second assist of the season. The win marked the Bears’ first win over the Aggies since 2000, almost 24 years ago.
• Callie Conrad was responsible for both of Baylor’s during the trip to Hawaii, as the Bears went 2-0. The two goals were her first two goals of the season, and she has already tied her goal total for all of last season. The sophomore is now tied for the most points and goals so far this season. It only took her three shots to net two goals last week.
• Azul Alvarez has helped Baylor to three straight shutout victories over the last two weeks. Her three individual shutouts through the first five games are the first by a single Baylor goalkeeper since Jennifer Wandt had four through five games to start the shortened 2020 season.
• Alvarez and Conrad were named Big 12 Goalkeeper and Offensive Player of the Week, respectively on Aug. 28. This marks the Bears’ first time with two selections to win a Big 12 weekly award since Sarah Norman (defensive) and Jennifer Wandt (goalkeeper) during the 2021 season. It is also the first time to have a Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week since Jackie Crowther in 2018.
• Merrill was the team’s leading point scorer last season with 25 points from 12 goals and one assist. With her 12 goals, Merrill scored the most goals from an individual player in a single season since Dana Larsen in 2012.
• SMU holds the 9-5 all-time record over the Bears, defeating BU last season in Dallas, 2-1.
• Baylor and Iowa are tied 1-1-1 all-time with the last match resulting in a 0-0 draw on Sept. 4, 2022.