Baylor Soccer Prepares for Big 12 Championship

Fri Oct 27 15:47:34 CDT 2023

BAYLOR ATHLETICS COMMUNICATIONS – October 27, 2023

Baylor Soccer Prepares for Big 12 Championship
Bears open up the postseason against Cincinnati

For more information contact: Katy Gilmore; 254-252-2182, katy_gilmore at baylor.edu<mailto:katy_gilmore at baylor.edu>

Media link for 2023 Baylor soccer season:
https://baylor.box.com/s/ywfgr2gsxh8uzfn90ufbe2qjfs18yerl

BAYLOR at BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP

vs. Cincinnati
Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. CT
Round Rock Multipurpose Complex
Video: Big 12 Now ESPN+

BAYLOR (9-6-3)

Head Coach: Michelle Lenard (North Texas, 2003)

Career Record: 214-94-30 (16th season)

BU Record: 13-17-5 (2nd season)

CINCINNATI (3-7-7)

Head Coach: Erica Demers (Oakland, 2004)

Career Record: 53-45-26 (7th season)

UC Record: 3-7-7 (1st season)

Story lines

  *   Baylor soccer heads to the 2023 Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Soccer Championship in Round Rock as the No. 8 seed and will play No. 9 seed Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 1 p.m. at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.
  *   The 2023 season marks the 27th season of the Baylor Soccer program. During that time, BU has won four Big 12 titles, advanced to two Elite Eights and had four All-Americans to go with countless All-Big 12 and Academic All-Big 12 honorees.
  *   This season also marks the second year of the Michelle Lenard coaching era, as she was selected as the Bears sixth head coach in program history in December of 2021.
  *   The Bears are 9-6-3 on the season so far and have recorded the most wins in a season since the 2018 campaign when BU made it to the Elite Eight and recorded 20 wins.
  *   The Bears have compiled seven shutout wins so far this season and have scored 31 goals. BU’s seven shutouts are the most in a season since 2021 when the Bears finished with eight.
  *   BU’s 31 goals this season are also the most since that 2018 season when they totaled 49 and the Bears won a Big 12 title.
  *   Eleven different players have scored this season. Ashley Merrill leads the way with 23 points from a team-leading 11 goals and one assist. Isgrig’s 19 points come from six goals and seven assists.
  *   Merrill’s 11 goals on the season are now the most from an individual player in a single season since Dana Larsen recorded 11 during the 2012 season.
  *   With Isgrig’s seven assists on the season, it marks the most by a Bear since 2018 when Ally Henderson Ashkinos and Jackie Crowther both had seven as Baylor rolled to a 20-6 ledger that season.
  *   Five newcomers have scored goals so far this season: Callie Conrad, Skylar Zinnecker, Theresa McCullough, Natalie Vatter and Salma Simonin.
  *   Fifteen different Bears have recorded a point this season.
  *   Goalkeepers Makinzie Short and Ashlee Zirkel have split time in goal this season, with Zirkel starting in seven of the last eight conference matchups.
  *   Six Bears have recorded their first-career goals so far this season.
  *   The Bears had not recorded a loss through the past five games and held a 3-3-2 record in conference play before narrowly falling to No. 21 TCU, 1-0, last Sunday.
  *   BU’s seven goals against ACU this season was the first seven-goal game since Sept. 18, 2016, when the Bears beat Jackson State at home, 7-0.
  *   Also, in the win over ACU, Ashley Merrill recorded the first hat trick for the Bears, since Taylor Moon did so on March 27, 2021, vs Louisiana.
  *   Merrill now ties Baylor records with three second-half goals and six second-half points. Her three goals in under four minutes is the fastest hat trick in Baylor soccer history. She also has now scored in six matches so far this season.
  *   BU and Cincinnati last faced off on Oct. 12 at Betty Lou Mays Field in Waco, Texas, when the teams recorded a 2-2 draw after full time.
  *   Baylor is looking for its first Big 12 title since 2017 when it takes the field in Round Rock against Cincinnati. The Bears have had success in the Big 12 Championship over the years, posting a 15-14-1 record over the years. BU ranks third in the Big 12 in total wins in Big 12 Tournament history. Only Texas A&M and Nebraska have more Big 12 Tournament victories in their history.
  *   BU is one of just five schools to hold a winning record in Big 12 Tournament history.
  *   This is the Bears first trip back to the Big 12 Tournament since the 2021 season when they faced West Virginia as the No. 3 seed and fell in the first round.

- BaylorBears.com -

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Katy Gilmore | Associate Director of Athletic Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
O: 254-710-2743 | C: 254-252-2182

[cidimage002.png at 01D79F3C.9D2300D0]<http://baylorbears.com/>

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