Soccer falls to Baylor, 2-1

Sunday, October 25

Austin, Texas

4 p.m.

University of Texas

7-5-4, 4-3-1Big 12

Baylor

9-5-2, 4-1-1Big 12

Baylor

Texas

10.25.2015 | Soccer

Box Score

Redshirt freshman forward Mikayla Flores led UT’s rally attempt with her third goal of the season

AUSTIN, Texas – Despite redshirt freshman Mikayla Flores' third goal of the campaign coming at the 85:07 mark, Texas (7-5-4, 4-3-1 Big 12 Conference) dropped a hard-fought, 2-1 decision to Baylor (9-5-2, 4-1-1 Big 12) on Sunday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium.

Trailing the Bears by a pair of goals with time running short, a ball ricocheting around inside the 18 was eventually fed from freshman forward Alexa Adams to Flores who promptly moved middle and finished from eight yards out. For Adams, the assist was her third of the season and granted the Lancaster, Calif., native 12 points over the Longhorns' last five matches.

By virtue of her point, Adams also tied former Longhorns Kylie Doniak, Hannah Higgins, Kelsey Carpenter, Kelly Wilson and Kati McBain for the sixth-longest point scoring streak in school history by registering at least one point in five straight matches dating back to the Iowa State contest on Oct. 9.

Baylor out-shot Texas by a 13-12 total and led 9-4 in shots on goal while UT managed a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks. Longhorns senior goalkeeper Abby Smith was forced to make seven saves between the pipes.

Flores tried to cause a little trouble for Texas during the early going by getting into a little space just 3:48 into the match. The La Verne, Calif., native tried a right-footed shot from a tough angle on the left side, but it was punched out of danger by BU goalkeeper Sara Martinson.

The best early chances belonged to Baylor, however, as shots from forward Amanda Hoglund and midfielder Ashley York traveled wide and high of frame during the seventh and eighth minutes, respectively.

Texas earned a corner during the 23rd minute, and senior midfielder Chantale Campbell played a ball into the middle. Waiting about 15 yards out off the corner feed was Flores. She attempted a quick sliding shot, but it popped up high in the air before being caught on a leap by Martinson.

A ball played over the top located Baylor's Lauren Piercy behind the defense in the 37th minute. With Piercy racing in 1-v-1 on Smith, senior defenders Ali Schmalz and Brinkley Field recovered quickly to mark her tightly and keep her from getting much steam on an eventual shot that ventured straight into Smith's arms.

Baylor's Jackie Crowther moved near the left end line in the 41st minute and tried crossing. Her ball into the middle got caught in the stiff breeze and bent in on frame, hitting off the top of the crossbar and bouncing straight vertically before dropping into the waiting arms of a leaping Smith.

Just 3:52 out of the locker room, junior midfielder Julia Dyche had the ball at her feet just above the top of the 18. Unfortunately, with a strong breeze blowing from her back, the Southlake, Texas, native's shot traveled well over the bar.

A Flores try from the right wing with 28:35 remaining in regulation was blocked out for a Texas corner. On the subsequent feed in, however, the ball proved too close to goal as Martinson made a routine catch.

The scoreless dead-lock finally came to an end, not long after a lengthy injury break, with 25:15 left as a Texas defender was called for an intentional handball in the box, and BU was awarded a penalty kick. Defender Katie Daigle stepped up to the spot and beat Smith into the left edge of the net to grant the Bears a 1-0 lead.

That PK seemed to spark Baylor as the Bears struck again just 2:32 later. A rebound off a shot ricocheted straight back out into the middle of the 18 and landed at the feet of Piercy. The Amarillo, Texas, product wasted no time in driving a shot quickly through the crowd out front and into the left side of the twine to double BU's advantage to 2-0.

Desperately needing to cut into the deficit during the 75th minute, Texas' Adams battled to earn a free kick in a dangerous area about 10 yards outside the top of the 18. Dyche stepped up and drilled a shot, but it drifted high over the crossbar and out of play.

Baylor continued to press for more in the 77th minute as Piercy and forward Precious Akanyirige forced Smith to make her fifth and sixth stops of the contest.

Texas came close to getting on the scoreboard off a corner with 7:59 remaining. Dyche played a ball into the middle that ended up ricocheting over to the far post. Despite being marked tightly, Adams got a head on a shot, but Martinson tipped it wide of the woodwork and over the end line.

The Longhorns finally found the back of the net with 4:53 left. With the ball inside the 18, Adams delivered a pass to Flores who moved towards the middle and fired a drive that beat Martinson to make it 2-1 Baylor.

Despite the Bears' attempts to waste the remaining time, Texas' offense continued to fight. With 11 seconds on the clock, the Longhorns earned a free kick in Baylor's defensive end. Smith came across midfield to take it from approximately 40 yards out, but drilled her effort over the woodwork as BU secured the victory.

Texas Post-Match Quotes

Head Coach Angela Kelly

On performance today…

I don't think that we played poorly. I think we won the battle in the midfield, and with Baylor it's always going to be a physical battle. They were all over us up top. There was a lot of physicality to this game. I don't think it was a poor performance. The wind played a big factor for both teams. When it did get stretched, I think we did a good job of trying to possess it, and I think things happen in a course of a transitional game, like the injury, that was a fifteen-minute unexpected break. Nobody likes to see their teammate get taken off in a stretcher, so I think there was a little lull in the momentum then. Just the misfortune of a windy day. That ball just bounced and hit [Brinkley Field's] arm. The officials have the discretionary call, and he was standing right there. Those two things were hard to face for momentum. We had the majority of the ball, but to be honest, I am proud of the way we responded in the last 15 minutes. I knew it was just going to take one. We just ran out of time there at the end. It's a tough weekend for this squad. When you build a team with such a strong foundation like we have, we might bend, but we are never going to break. From right now, our perspective is to recover, get healthy and get ready to let these seniors go out on the note that they have earned over their four year career.

On how proud of she is of her team despite dropping the last two matches…

Yeah, it's all about effort. Things aren't always going to go your way, and sometimes they will. If you spend your time riding the highs and lows, you're going to have a very seesaw experience, in this game, certainly, and in life. And it's not always fair, but the strong will prevail. Our soccer program is incredibly strong, and the character of our young ladies is something that I'm very proud of. In response, with 15 minutes left, there was never too little time. There was 4:52 left and they were sprinting to get the ball in the back of the net. That's the important piece to a squad. That's where we'll never break. Now we have to work on going ahead and continuing to fight. This was a much different feeling than Friday night. I'm proud of the response in the last 15 minutes.

On how today's match was different from Friday's match…

I think Friday night it was just a different scenario; we were up a goal. And we're going to get everybody's best game, and you've seen that. Whether it's on the road in this conference or away. There's so much talent everywhere that you just have to make sure you organize for anything you might face.

On the performance of the back line today despite Isabelle Kerr missing the start due to illness…

Chelsea [Surpris]'s a freshman and hasn't seen any minutes, but I thought she responded great. Aaron Strawser hasn't seen minutes of late. We want to make sure that we have an incredibly competitive environment. There isn't one person, from one through 26, that is not going to have an impact on this program. Whether it's on the field or off the field, everyone in this program is impactful. And I think the important piece is to continually believe in something bigger than yourself. The moment that any individual becomes selfish, and they think about themselves and perhaps their playing time, then when their opportunity arises then they're not able to take advantage of it. In a situation like today, we needed Chelsea, and she stepped right in and played 90 minutes. So you don't really know when it's going to be your time, and when it is you need to be ready to perform, and you need to do it in a very professional and selfless way. That's something that I'm really proud of: the character of this program. They're incredibly selfless, and that makes me proud.

Redshirt Freshman Forward Mikayla Flores

On the performance of the game…

We really battled even though we were down 2-0 with about 20 minutes left. We still fought our hearts out and we got one in, but unfortunately we couldn't get two more.

On how this game had the same feeling as against Oklahoma…

Yeah, I think the two games related to one another. I think we need to focus on putting it away earlier. The other team had their chances and were waiting for us to attack and to score a goal, but we are going to move forward from this. This is behind us now. We have "Senior Night" and a Big 12 Championship to win, so we are just looking at the positives.

On not being able to wrap up the number two seed in the Big 12 Championship this weekend…

I think we are just going to take this and learn from this. We are going to go get that ring from the Big 12 Championship.

On what the team can learn from today's game…

I think we can learn that it's never too late to respond to something like this. The goals that were scored were unlucky for us, but we just have to learn to keep pushing.