Baylor Bears
Overall Rank: #14
Conference Rank: #1 Big 12
Baylor Team Page
Baylor had a historic season in 2012. The Bears tallied 19 wins, which is the best in the program history, and ended the season as the only women’s college soccer program to have just one loss. The postseason run ended in a tough, hard fought draw at North Carolina that had the Tar Heels advance 4-2 in a penalty kick shootout. The loss of a stellar six player senior class is not going to be easy to replace but the Bears have risen into the national conversation as an elite program by being a total team from top to bottom that can beat you with high flying offense and lock you down defensively. The Bears are primed and ready to build off last year’s historic campaign.
2012 Record: 19-1-5, 5-0-3
2012 Postseason: NCAA
Co-Coaches: Marci and Paul Jobson
Strengths:
Baylor dominates matches by keeping possession and generating quality-scoring chances. The team had 531 shots in 25 matches in 2012. Defensively, the Bears did a great job limiting opponents’ shots, allowing only 173 shots over the course of the season. This three to one ratio is definitely a great recipe for making a run at a College Cup appearance. The Bears also were very dominant at home with a 9-0-0 record. The depth of the offensive attack is another huge strength for this Baylor side as 17 different players found the back net for the Lady Bears. This ability to have so many scoring options creates matchup advantages and nightmares for opposing coaches in preparing to play Baylor.
Weaknesses:
The big question for the Bears is replacing the goal scoring production of Dana Larsen, Lisa Sliwinski, and Hannah Gilmore. This trio combined for 28 of the 58 Baylor goals in 2012. Thus, the onus will be on players like Bri Campos and Kat Ludlow to pick up some of those missing goals from last season. In addition, Karlee Summey, a senior midfielder who made nine starts in 2012, will be counted on even more to generate scoring chances for Campos and Ludlow. The other point of emphasis will be to try to find a way to cut the amount of ties down on the road and try to get a couple extra road wins to help Baylor in the seeding and save them from having to travel in the NCAA Tournament.
Final Projection:
The schedule has two great road tests in the non-conference portion of the schedule at Washington and at Texas A&M. These two matches will provide the Jobsons with a tremendous gauge as to where their team is at as far as the younger players stepping in to replace the six seniors that were so vital to the Bears run in 2012. The conference schedule is highlighted by West Virginia traveling to Waco on September 29th. The Mountaineers were the Big 12 regular season champions in 2012. The other key home match will be October 13th versus Texas Tech in what should be a very entertaining offensive display by both teams. The ability to light up the scoreboard for Baylor should continue even with the losses to graduation. It may take some time to develop early but the Bears should be peaking by November and be ready to make another deep run in the 2013 NCAA Tournament. It will come down to the younger players continuing to evolve and the Bears using their depth in their attack to wear teams down in the second half of matches.
Projected Postseason: NCAA
Returning Leaders:
Goals: Four players with 3 goals each
Assists: Two players with 4 assists each
Shots: Karlee Summey, Senior, Midfield, 48
Saves: Michelle Kloss, Junior, 53
Madness 2013 Women’s Soccer Recruit Rankings:
#116 Ashley York
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