Baylor Soccer Loses for First Time in 2025, Dropping 1-0 Contest to Texas Tech
WACO, Texas — Baylor Soccer (5-1-2, 0-1-0) dropped its conference opener to the visiting Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-1-0, 1-0-0) by a score of 1-0 thanks to a 72nd-minute penalty.
Texas Tech did not overwhelm the Bears, but they did enough to knock the hosts off their game and blunt the Baylor attack. The Green and Gold registered just 10 shots with four on goal through the 90 minutes.
At the other end of the pitch, Baylor’s Azul Alvarez was once again great in goal. The senior made 6 saves, including a couple with a high degree of difficulty.
The way Texas Tech chose to play allowed lots of space for Baylor’s defenders to dribble upfield and play their teammates in on goal, largely bypassing the midfield.
An example of this included Blythe Obar feeding Lauren Omholt on the right side of the box in the 27th minute for a shot that went wide across goal.
Obar also made a good strike from distance midway through the second half when a Baylor corner was cycled out to her. That shot also went wide left.
On to the Red Raiders’ goal, the chance was created by the Tech high press, forcing a turnover. With one Raider in possession at the top left corner of the Baylor 18-yard box, Sam Courtwright made a run centrally. Kai Hayes flew in to challenge Courtwright as she controlled the ball at the top of the box. Hayes committed to a challenge a split second late, missing the ball and making contact with Courtwright’s leg directly above the line for the box.
At first, the referee awarded a free kick inches outside of the box. Upon video review, the ruling was changed to a penalty.
Texas Tech’s Payton Parsons sent Alvarexz the wrong way to score the winner for the Red Raiders. 1-0 Texas Tech.
Baylor pushed for an equalizer with the 18 minutes left in the game, and they generated two of their closest chances of the night. However, neither was enough to beat the Tech keeper.
First, freshman midfielder Olivia Hess worked hard to control the ball centrally outside of the Raiders’ box in the 80th minute. When she found a sliver of space, she fired back across goal. The shot was always going wide, but junior midfielder Aryanna Jimison stretched to try to redirect the ball into the goal. Jimison made contact, but it was minimal and the ball continued wide. If Jimison were one inch closer to the ball, that would likely have been the equalizer.
Then, in the 85th minute, junior attacker Theresa McCullough popped the ball up in the air in an effort to control it. With time and awareness of her position at the edge of the box, McCullough chose to go for a frankly audacious volley. She not only made great contact, but also put the shot on goal. The only problem was that the amazing shot drew an amazing save from Texas Tech’s Faith Nguyen.
The Red Raiders saw out the final five minutes after that without distress, securing the win.
Baylor now has its first loss of the season and faces a tough road trip to the Sunflower State to face No. 19 Kansas and Kansas State next Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
