LAWRENCE, Kansas — Baylor Soccer (6-1-2) earned its second win against a ranked opponent this season, toppling the previously undefeated No. 14 Kansas Jayhawks (7-1-2) by a score of 3-0.
Junior Aryanna Jimison unlocked the game for the Bears in the 35th minute with a curling strike to score the opener. The Jayhawks created great chances for an equalizer but were unable to convert before Callie Conrad and Theresa McCullough netted insurance goals for the Bears in the second half.
The win is massive for the Bears as it earns the team’s first three points in the conference standings, solidifies their top 25 RPI, and gets the momentum rolling again after their only loss of the season last Friday.
Baylor started the game with great energy and threatened the Kansas goal throughout the first ten minutes before their hosts were able to grow into the game.
As has become typical, Jimison changed the game when she was introduced midway through the first half. Just 13 minutes into her shift, the midfielder was driving toward the top right corner of the KU box when she took a chance on an early shot. Either because she saw the keeper out of position or because she just fancied her chances from that spot, Jimison let a shot rip and beat the keeper toward the far top corner of the goal. 1-0 Baylor.
The Jayhawks pressed for an equalizer before halftime, coming incredibly close around the 40th minute. One shot from just outside the Baylor six-yard box was stonewalled by midfielder Kai Hayes. The other chance came immediately after this when a lofted cross was sent back into the danger zone. Baylor goalkeeper Azul Alvarez missed her punch — a rare miscue for the top-tier keeper — but the Jayhawk attacker was unable to direct the ball on frame, missing wide left by a foot or two.
With a halftime lead of 1-0 in their back pockets, the Bears came under threat once again in the 48th minute. This time, a Jayhawk shot pinged off the bottom of Alvarez’s crossbar and back into play before being cleared. The game should have been 1-1, but the Bears’ clean sheet survived.
Not ten minutes later, Callie Conrad sent a ball in to Theresa McCullough, who had her shot blocked by the KU keeper racing off the goal line. McCullough kept her wits about her and found the loose ball, knocking it to Conrad, who was making a run into the box centrally. Conrad redirected the pass toward goal, and the desperate Jayhawk defenders could not reach it before it crossed the goal line. 2-0 Baylor.
Then, in the 63rd minute, Senior midfielder Tyler Isgrig picked out Conrad, making another central run at the Kansas back line. Controlling the ball, Conrad drifted to the right as McCullough redirected her run on the right wing to the center. Conrad got a pass through two defenders, and McCullough raced forward to beat the on-rushing keeper to the ball. Baylor’s No. 14 won that race, but the ball spun tantalizingly in the grass in front of the empty net. McCullough then beat another KU defender to the ball to force in the Bears’ third and final goal of the night.
The defense helped Alvarez see the rest of the game out for the Baylor keeper’s sixth clean sheet of the season.
The win was just what Michelle Lenard’s team needed after picking up its first loss of the season last Friday in the Big 12 opener vs. Texas Tech. The Bears earned their second ranked win of the campaign, first Big 12 win, and solidified their already great RPI ranking (No. 17) with a win over the team ranked No. 11 in the RPI.
There is plenty of soccer left to be played this season, but this game is direct proof that Baylor can win any and all of those remaining nine regular-season games, hopefully getting the Bears back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2018.
Up Next: A Sunday scrap at Kansas State (5-2-2), who are coming off a 1-0 loss to No. 10 TCU. Kickoff is set for 11:30 AM CT on ESPN+.
