Standout XI: What Caught My Eye in No. 12 Baylor’s 1-1 Draw with No. 9 West Virginia

Baylor Soccer lost its five-game win streak in the last minute of a 1-1 draw at No. 9 West Virginia on Friday. Here are some of my thoughts and takeaways from the Bears’ Big 12 opener against the Mountaineers in Morgantown. Baylor plays Oklahoma State in Waco on Thursday at 7 p.m. Entry is free or watch the game on ESPN+.

» The stats sheet says that Baylor was outshot by West Virginia 20-4, including 7-1 for shots on goal. I think those numbers don’t give enough credit to Baylor’s defense for the quality of their play. The Bears went 89:42 before allowing a goal, and the goal was off a set piece, not open play. Defenders did really well to ensure that they closed WVU attackers down quickly and funneled them to areas where any shots that were not blocked would likely not test Azul Alvarez too heavily. 

» Continuing the note above a bit, I saw four chances that truly tested Alvarez to a high degree. Three were saved, and one was the equalizer. Two shots looked like they were going to hit the post and bounce who-knows-where. The other looked like it would be a goal if not for a diving Alvarez. All three were also examples of something Azul showed all night: great catching. She didn’t allow rebounds or spills on shots and crosses that easily could have resulted in second chances for WVU. So again, when it came to Alvarez, it was a really good performance until that final corner kick.

» What were the Bears & Azul doing on the last corner? Obligatory “I do not know what the players are coached to do in this situation,” but… Calnek looks like she mis-times her attempt at a header. Vatter sticks to the goal line and near post instead of closing down Wimes. And the same goes for Alvarez, who stepped back from Wimes to return to the goal line, opening up more of a gap between herself and Vatter that the ball went through. I almost think it was players sticking to the letter of their tasks on the corner instead of the spirit of the job. Either way, tough one for the Bears to give up.

» I already said the whole defense played a good game in my opinion, and a couple of players really stood out positively, chief among them senior center back Bella James. The Texas A&M transfer popped up right where she needed to be very often throughout the game and made key tackles and blocked shots. The effort was great, and that can make all the difference in close games like this one. A really good 90 minutes from James.

» According to the stat sheet, Ava Slay played just 18 minutes, but I really liked what I saw in the 28 minutes that I watched her play. Slay came on for outside back Sydney Miller and kept the intensity level high, slowing or stopping runs and blocking shots. The junior defender could prove to be a useful sub to keep Miller and Vatter fresh if this is the type of performance that she can put in consistently. 

» Aryanna Jimison is why the Bears scored. The vision to pick the pass that set Lauren Omholt up for the Bears’ goal and the ability to execute it perfectly are not a common combination to have. Just watch it again, and see the same thing on the later pass to Grace White that could have made it 2-0 Baylor.

» Omholt, for her part, did really well to finish after a pair of not-great touches when receiving the pass from Jimison. The first touch was a bit inside, halting some forward momentum and bringing the defender back into the play somewhat. The second touch was a bit outside, but she settled in with the third small touch and then put her laces through the ball emphatically on the shot. Omholt has shown improved composure in front of goal this year, and this is just the latest example.

» What if Grace White finished that late chance for insurance? About eight minutes after Omholt’s goal, Jimison picked out another amazing pass to send Grace White in on goal. The WVU defense was in better position on this one, and there was just less space overall, so White getting closed down and missing the shot is not a brutal missed opportunity. However, White could have really turned the way I look at this game on its head. With a score here, it becomes a 2-0 “killer instinct” performance where the Bears showed the ability to absorb great pressure and capitalize on one or two key moments. Instead, we got “this draw feels like a loss” even in a game where I thought a draw was a good result to get before a second was played.

» Olivia Hess had a rough one, but she wasn’t alone. For the first 75 or so minutes, the Bears really struggled to maintain possession, often picking the wrong option between playing quick and playing patient for the given situation. This was especially evident in the midfield in the first half, and credit to WVU for forcing this out of the Bears. But specific to the sophomore midfielder, aside from not having a good feel for what was best against the defense in a given moment, she just never looked comfortable out there. 

» Losing the win so late really hurts. The team needs to move past it quickly, but here on SicEm365 we can stop and look at what it might mean for a title push. Looking at the last five Big 12 regular season champions, they don’t drop more than five points all season.

• 2025: TCU dropped 5 points (11 games)
• 2024: TCU dropped 4 points (11 games)
• 2023: Texas Tech dropped 4 points (10 games)
• 2022: Texas dropped 4 points (9 games)
• 2021: TCU dropped 5 points (9 games)

With the draw at No. 9 WVU, both teams have dropped two points. Both teams, if the trend holds, get one more non-win in conference before they would eliminate themselves from contention with a third combined loss or draw. You can only win, lose, or draw the game in front of you, though (or however Ashley Hodge puts it). 

» Looking around the Big 12 scores from this week, the Bears did get a little help. No. 20 TCU lost at Oklahoma State, No. 23 BYU drew with Arizona, and No. 25 UCF drew with Texas Tech. The Frogs, Cougars, Knights and Raiders are all expected to be top-half teams and have a say in who wins the league. In fact, No. 15 Colorado is the team that likely felt the best coming out of the first match day with a 1-0 win at Iowa State. Only four teams are 1-0, so maybe the trend I played out above will break this year. Or maybe Oklahoma State will surprise a lot of people. The Bears have a direct say in that on Thursday night when they host the Cowgirls. Oh, and WVU visits Colorado while UCF visits BYU. That’s a really great group of games early in the conference slate.