WACO, TX — In a thrilling contest played before a season-high 980 fans, Baylor recorded a hard-fought 2-2 draw in double overtime with No. 2 USC Friday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.
After a scoreless match through the first 35 minutes, USC got on the board in the 39th minute with a goal by Jaelyn Eisenhart. Three minutes later, the Trojans went up 2-0 as Penelope Hocking finished off a breakaway started by Olufolasade Adamolekun.
At the half, USC held a 12-2 advantage in shots. But Baylor flipped the script in that category in the second half.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Elena Reyna put the Bears on the board with her first goal of the season. The sophomore forward kicked the ball past the diving USC goalkeeper into the lower right corner of the net.
It didn’t take long for Giuliana Cunningham to join the party. In the 61st minute, Danielle Hayden sent a cross to the front of the goal that Cunningham booted perfectly into the left side of the goal for the equalizer.
Baylor finished the second half outshooting the Trojans, 11-6. Overall, USC recorded a 24-16 advantage in shots.
The match nearly ended in the final minute of regulation as Reyna and Cunningham each got great looks at the goal. But a shot off the crossbar and another too high sent the match into overtime.
The Trojans recorded six shots total in both overtime periods, but BU goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt had an answer for every one of them. Wandt racked up eight saves on the night.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Elena Reyna and Giuliana Cunningham each netted their first goals of the season. For Reyna, it was her first goal since Oct. 28, 2018 against Iowa State. For Cunningham, it was her first goal since Nov. 16, 2018 against Vanderbilt.
- Taylor Moon made her first start of the season.
- Danielle Hayden recorded her first assist at Baylor first since her freshman season at Kentucky.
- After USC dominated the possession in the first half (62 percent to BU’s 38 percent), it evened out as the match progressed. The Trojans finished with a slim edge of 52 percent to 48 percent.
STAT OF THE GAME
8 – Number of saves by Jennifer Wandt. That marks a season high for the junior goalkeeper. It’s also one shy of tying her career best (nine) that she set in the win at West Virginia on Oct. 5, 2018.
TOP QUOTE
Paul Jobson on the match…
“The message at halftime was I didn’t believe it was a 2-0 game. I really felt like we had some opportunities in the first half and made some mistakes, and a great team is going to capitalize on mistakes. But we weren’t out of the game. I felt we could adjust some things and put some pressure on them and go for it. They believed in it and went after it, and we got results out of it. We almost won the thing at the end of the second half.”
Sophomore Elena Reyna on the match…
“This game helped us realize that we’re better than we think we are. Playing against them, we realized we can play with the top dogs. We just need to come out of our shell a little bit, and this game helped us realize that.”
Junior Jennifer Wandt on her game…
“Matt (Smith) always tells me to make myself big, so I just thought of that as they were coming down. I just wanted to make saves for my team because this was really one of our first team efforts of the season for a 90-minute game. It was just awesome to see everyone out there busting their butt, and everyone on the sidelines cheering as loud as they can. It was truly easy to make plays like that when there are people around you.”
UP NEXT
Baylor hosts Gonzaga at 1 p.m. Sunday to wrap up non-conference play. Sunday’s match will be Pups at the Pitch with a Corgi race at halftime.
