Baylor Soccer has won five in a row to reach 7-1-0, with Big 12 play starting tomorrow night (Friday). Here are some of my thoughts and takeaways from that win over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in Tulsa. Baylor plays the undefeated No. 9 West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown on Friday at 6 p.m. Watch the game on ESPN+.
» Ask for better execution on set pieces, and you shall receive. Grace White’s first-half header for the opening goal was really nice, and it was a great low and fast delivery from Olivia Hess.
» Set pieces giveth and set pieces taketh away. It’s why they are so important to execute well, whether attacking or defending. But it was tough to see such a great free-kick shot beat Azul and equalize it late for ORU.
» Big props to Callie Conrad and Sydney Miller for creating the chance that Aryanna Jimison scored. It was strong hold-up play on the throw by Conrad, especially impressive that late in the game, and then Miller’s hustle and sheer force of will to beat her defender, turn the corner, and send in the perfect cross. Winning plays in winning time for the Bears.
Watching it live, you could see Jimison decide that she was going to score it and then just make it happen.
» I cannot stress enough how great Alvarez’s save in the 81st minute was. She was sitting on her left post to stop a possible shot, had to scramble back across goal to her right when the cross went across her face, made it two-thirds of the way across goal in a single second with the wherewithal to track the first-time shot from the ORU attacker and make a foot save to protect the late lead. Heck of a save, and it shows why Alvarez deserved the Big 12 Keeper of the Week award in just one play.
» There is something about Baylor giving up really good scoring chances very quickly after scoring this season. Teams always try to push for a quick response, but Pepperdine and Oral Roberts are two examples of this. The Waves scored to equalize at 1-1 early in that game, and ORU nearly rescued a draw late. The Bears’ focus priorities, which already clearly include the first five and last ten of each half, need to put a little extra emphasis on the first five minutes after scoring. It’s a high-leverage time to settle play down and establish a new status quo for the game.
» I think these last few games have shown us who the crunch time captains on this team are. I mean the players that you want to see with the scoring chance because they have that killer instinct to find the back of the net. The most clinical finishers in the key moments. Specifically, Aryanna Jimison and Grace White — the two goal scorers in this game — are certainly the two I would want to see on the end of a cross or played into space near goal. McCullough and Omholt are good shouts here as well, but I would say they are more likely to be the players making the key cross or forcing a turnover to create the chance.
» Beyond the point above, the rotation looks pretty well set; there are 16 or so players that I would expect to see play in any given game. Each of those players looks to have a pretty well-defined role, and they have been executing well. My biggest remaining questions are: how does Noelle Sather fit back in (she’ll be in the rotation, but how does that affect roles and minutes) and how does the defense cope if a backup center back has to play extended minutes. The starting defense has taken good steps but still needs to clean some things up. If they lose a starter for even a half, can the backup (likely Emerson Garcia) come in and not lead to more mistakes? The four starting defenders have the highest minutes on the team outside of Alvarez in goal; I would guess that Michelle Lenard wanted to get more game experience for backups but prioritized the meaningful reps for the starters as they got into the thick of it.
» This was win number seven to finish non-conference 7-1-0. That figure ties 2018, 2016 and 2013 for the most non-conference wins since 2012. Given that the Bears are No. 5 in the RPI, their 7-1-0 record was hard-won and nothing to scoff at or take for granted.
» With non-conference in the rearview now, I think it is safe to say that the offense has looked good against high-quality competition and the defense has looked better than I feared they might. But there is clearly another level that both units can hit. There are trophies to be won if the Bears can find those levels — perhaps the trophies can be won regardless, but the next level of effectiveness at both ends would be so much fun to watch.
» The non-conference results mean very little if the Bears are too complacent at the start of conference play. The Big 12 schedule is front-loaded for Baylor with No. 9 WVU right off the bat, Kansas and Colorado within the first five games, and TCU just past the halfway mark at game No. 7. Not that the back half is easy, but a title push is rarely made without a strong start.
