Baylor Blows Two-Goal Lead in Second Half, Draws BYU 3-3

PROVO, Utah — Baylor Soccer (7-6-4, 2-4-3) drew the BYU Cougars (6-5-5, 4-2-3) with a score of 3-3 on a stormy Thursday night at South Field.

Overcoming a halftime deficit of 1-0, Tyler Isgrig, Hallie Augustyn and Ashley Merrill scored three in a row to take what appeared to be a commanding 3-1 lead. However, Baylor collapsed in the last seven minutes of the game allowing the Cougars to rescue the draw.

Kickoff was delayed about 45 minutes by lightning and the first half saw heavy downpours at times.

The Bears had a great chance to take the initial lead in the game when Ashley Merrill knocked a Baylor corner toward goal in the 20th minute. Alysiah Lockette redirected it away from the keeper, but a Cougar defender stationed on the far post made a brilliant goal line clearance.

Two minutes later, BYU broke down Baylor’s right defensive flank sending a ball into the box that was laid off for a charging Erin Bailey to strike home. 1-0 BYU.

Taking that 1-0 scoreline into halftime, there was a second lightning delay that pushed the second half 55 minutes back.

Baylor came out with a fury, pushing forward into the BYU half and getting multiple good shots off.

The breakthrough came in the 49th minute when the Bears recycled a corner kick back into the BYU box. Tyler Isgrig collected the ball on the right side of the goal, cut away from the endline and fired toward the far post. A Cougar defender tried to clear the shot, but deflected the ball into the back of the net. 1-1.

Baylor kept the pressure up and fifteen minutes later took the lead off of another recycled corner kick. This time, Natalie Vatter sent a chipped ball back into the box on the left side. Hallie Augustyn timed her run perfectly and got her head to the ball before the BYU keeper. Her header went off the far right post, bouncing back to Augustyn to tap home. 2-1 Bears.

Ashley Merrill got in on the fun just two minutes later in the 66th minute when she deftly deflected a Tyler Isgrig header past the BYU keeper. 3-1 Baylor.

What looked to be a significant win for Baylor in adverse conditions against a solid team eventually turned sour though. After holding off the Cougars for 19 minutes, the Bears allowed a glimmer of hope for BYU to seize upon.

Allie Fryer laced a great shot across goal into the bottom left corner to draw things back for BYU to 3-2  in the 85th minute. 

Then, less than a minute later, a BYU shot hit Ava Colberg’s unfortunately outstretched arm in the Baylor box resulting in a penalty kick for the Cougars.

Allie Fryer stepped up and dispatched the penalty calmly. 3-3 with just under five minutes to play.

Both teams generated chances before the final whistle, but the hectic match finished at 3-3.

The Bears will feel very disappointed in giving up a two-goal lead so late in the game, but the consequences could extended far beyond this particular game. 

This was the last chance for the Bears to beat a team ranked higher than them in the RPI in the regular season. The Bears now sit in 11th place in the Big 12  needing wins in their last two games to guarantee their spot in the conference tournament. One win could also solidify the Bears above the 12th place cutoff with help from others however. 

Aside from the Big 12 Tournament, the Bears now are likely on the wrong side of the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. The Bears RPI was 46th heading into this game and an RPI closer to 30th is where the last at-large teams will likely be.

This means that the Bears need to not only finish the regular season with a pair of wins, but also beat some good teams in the conference tournament to make the NCAAs; or just outright win the Big 12 Tournament to take the automatic bid.

For now, all the Bears can do is go into Salt Lake and beat the Utah Utes who sit 7th in the Big 12 with a record of 7-5-4 and 4-2-3 in Big 12 play. 

That game is set for Sunday at 2 PM CT on ESPN+.