SOC Shuts Out No. 5 Kansas for First Win of the Season - BaylorBears.com

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at West Virginia

10/16/2020 | 6 P.M.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Paul Jobson never quit believing, not even when his Baylor soccer team went four games without scoring a goal in the run of play and played three scoreless double-overtime draws.
            Now, he's got proof to go with belief. 
            Freshman Mackenzie Anthony rifled in a shot from the left side of the box in the 20^th minute, then assisted on a Taylor Moon goal early in the second half as the Bears (1-1-3) upset fifth-ranked Kansas, 2-0, Friday night at Betty Lou Mays Field. 
            "The girls make me look smart, honestly," Jobson said. "I knew it was a matter of time before we had some success like that, scoring goals. When you have a defense that's as strong as ours is, it keeps us in a match. The main thing we did this week is try to eliminate the pressure the forwards are putting on themselves and just give them opportunities in front of the goal."
            That was exactly where Anthony and Moon scored their goals. Jobson said the Bears did a good job of "just getting two players in positions that they're extremely comfortable in, in front of the net." 
            "I feel like our chemistry . . . even off the field, our camaraderie is so strong," Anthony said. "I knew Taylor Moon was going to be there, I could see her, and we've been connecting so well lately."
            After seeing so many opportunities come and go in the first four games, Anthony said her shot "looked like it was going wide. And I was like, 'Come on, really?''' she said. 
            "Then, I saw it go in the net, and my first instinct was just to find the nearest person and celebrate because we've been waiting for this. We knew it was coming, and it finally happened. It was just the best feeling ever when I saw it hit the back of the net."
            Aggressive from the start, Anthony got off two other shots in the first 15 minutes before netting her first goal just over 19 minutes into the game. That was also the first goal the Jayhawks (3-1-0) have allowed all year.
            "Mack was in a perfect position that she likes to score in and was able to pull the trigger and get a quality goal," Jobson said. 
            Senior goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt recorded her 40^th career win and school-record 29^th shutout, but didn't see much action until the second half, when she had all four of her saves. Baylor outshot Kansas, 6-1, in the first half before the Jayhawks turned the tables and became the second-half aggressor, getting off nine kicks to the Bears' three. 
            "They say the most dangerous lead in soccer is 2-0," Jobson said, "because you score one, you get some momentum and the next thing you know you can tie it up. . . . They did a good job of creating opportunities for themselves in the second half. I thought our girls, especially the first probably 20 minutes, really weathered the storm. That's one thing they haven't really experienced is holding a lead. So, I was proud of that."
            Scoring multiple goals for the first time since a 2-0 win over Iowa State on Oct. 27, 2019, Baylor went up 2-0 in the 54^th minute when Moon took a pass from Anthony and blasted a kick just inside the near post and by diving Kansas goalkeeper Sarah Peters. 
            "I saw an opening . . . a little bit," said Moon, who scored her sixth career goal. "It came to my left foot, which is not the foot that I prefer to use. I saw that (Peters) was a little off her post, and I don't think I could have made it to the back post. So, I just tried to slide it to the near post. And in it went. I'm just thankful for that."
            The Bears, tied for fifth in the Big 12 standings with Iowa State and Texas with six points, go back on the road to face No. 9 West Virginia at 6 p.m. CDT next Friday, Oct. 16, in Morgantown. WVU is first in the Big 12 with 12 points after a 2-1 win over Texas Tech. 
            "I think we get to enjoy it for a little bit," Moon said. "We deserve to enjoy it. But, we also need to put our head down and focus on the nest week, because West Virginia is a good team and we're traveling. If you want to keep on winning, then we're going to have to stay focused on the task at hand."
 

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – Coming into Friday night's contest, No. 5 Kansas had not allowed a goal all season. That changed 20 minutes into the match when freshman Mackenzie Anthony intercepted a pass from outside the box and finished to the far post to give the Bears an early lead that they would not relinquish as Baylor topped the Jayhawks, 2-0 under the lights at Betty Lou Mays Field.  
 
The Bears racked up three shots in the first 15 minutes of action before Anthony found the back of the net. The freshman's first career goal was also just the eighth first-half goal allowed by the KU defense in its last 27 matches.
 
Kansas, meanwhile, didn't record its first shot of the night until the 23^rd minute, an attempt that went wide of the goal. Senior goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt didn't make her first save until the 57^th minute. A big part of that was due to the stellar play by the Baylor back line.
 
Kayley Ables, two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, continued to shut things down on the right flank, while freshman Sarah Hornyak did the same on the left. Without service from the wings, Kansas wasn't able to get anything working from the middle either as freshman Chloe Japic and senior Sarah Norman cleared things out through the middle.
 
Baylor added to its lead in the 53^rd minute when junior forward Taylor Moon finished off a cross from Anthony in the bottom right corner. It marked her sixth career goal, and first since Sept. 15, 2019, at ACU.
 
Friday night marked the first loss by two or more goals to an unranked team by Kansas since dropping a 2-0 match to Oklahoma State on Oct. 25, 2015.
 
Jennifer Wandt picked up her 40^th career win and her 29^th career shutout as she finished the night putting up a clean sheet with four saves. It marked the 12^th shutout of a ranked opponent in Baylor history and the first win over a top-five team since the Bears defeated Texas A&M 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 12, 1997.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Mackenzie Anthony netted the first goal of her career in the 20^th minute.
• Taylor Moon scored her sixth career goal, and first since Sept. 2019, in the 54^th minute.
• Anthony finished the game with a team-high three points as she assisted on Moon's goal.
• Arianna Ghafari made her Baylor debut against the Jayhawks as the freshman finished with 25 minutes.
• Gabby Mueller logged the first complete game of her career as she played all 90 minutes.
• Eight freshmen saw the field for the Bears – Anthony, Ghafari, Mueller, Sarah Hornyak, Olivia Mack, Chloe Japic, Julia Phelan and Chloe Brown.

 
STAT OF THE GAME
4 – Number of shutouts so far this season for Baylor against Big 12 opponents. That is the most shutouts in conference play by the Bears since the 1998 season.
 
TOP QUOTES
Paul Jobson on the game…
"When you have a defense that's as strong as ours is, it keeps us in a match. The main thing we tried to do this week was try to eliminate the pressure the forwards are putting on themselves and just give them opportunities in front of the goal this week, and they were able to take advantage of some really great opportunities."
 
Jobson on what's next…
"That was kind of the message after the match was I wanted them to enjoy it. I wanted them to take in the moment. A lot of them, that's their first collegiate win and maybe first win against a top-5 opponent. It's a big moment and I want them to enjoy it. But, the message was the highs can't be too high and the lows can't be too low. We have to stay consistent and steady."

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