No.17 Baylor Soccer Survies Oral Roberts’ Upset Bid 2-1 Thanks to Another Jimison Winner
TULSA, Okla. — No. 17 Baylor Soccer took a slight detour on the road to its seventh win of the season, conceding an equalizer to their hosts, Oral Roberts, and then finding a late winner through senior midfielder Aryanna Jimison, all in the span of 81 seconds of game time.
The Bears spent much of the second half up 1-0 on the Golden Eagles thanks to Grace White’s headed goal off an Olivia Hess corner kick in the 41st minute.
Oral Robert’s equalized with a rocket of a direct free kick by Brianna Castleberry that kissed the underside of the crossbar after flying past a diving Azul Alvarez in the 80th minute.
Under two minutes later, Sydney Miller flew down the left sideline and found enough space to send a high cross into the middle of the ORU box. Jimison hunted the cross down like a heat-seeking missile and sent a header of her own into the back of the net to secure a new lead for Baylor. 2-1 with 9:14 to play.
Oral Roberts was about to cause emotional whiplash for all invested viewers when they turned a 3-on-4 counterattack into an open shot from the edge of the six-yard box. But Alvarez spectacularly recovered to make a foot save on the goal line and deny the Golden Eagles.
Baylor had a multitude of chances through the first half to build a more robust lead, including seven corner kicks and seven shots on goal that forced six ORU saves. The six saves were a new season-high for the Golden Eagles’ keeper before finishing with eight.
The three best chances that Baylor did not convert included:
1) Jimison slipping Lauren Omholt through onto goal along the left side in the 10th minute. Omholt could not control the pass to get a shot off.
2) Hess intercepting a pass and getting the ball to Jimison, who played Callie Conrad in this time. Conrad could not poke the ball past the keeper at the edge of the six-yard box. A good save by ORU in the 12th minute.
3) And lastly, in the 14th minute, Omholt causing a turnover and drove up the field, playing Conrad in on goal one more time. Conrad cut back inside of the onrushing defender to get the ball on her preferred right foot but could not keep her shot on target.
Grace White and fellow freshman Brynnlee Bohannon also worked a good shooting opportunity for Bohannon later in the half. That shot was straight at the keeper.
Bohannon found a similar opportunity in the second half when the game was still 1-0, but again put her attempt too central on the goal.
The defense for the Bears had some questionable moments, both from turnovers and from well-timed and executed long balls over the top, but did enough in the end to help extend Baylor’s winning streak to five games and give Oral Roberts its first loss of the season.
The Golden Eagles were every bit the quality opponent that Baylor head coach Michelle Lenard said they would be heading into the game, and made it tough for Baylor to earn its seventh non-conference win.
Those seven wins tie Baylor’s 2013, 2016 and 2018 non-conference win totals for the most since their eight wins in 2012.
Attention now turns to the Big 12 slate, which starts in Morgantown for the Bears. No. 17 Baylor vs. No. 8 West Virginia is set to kick off on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
