Baylor soccer (13-5-2, 4-4-1 Big 12) clinched the program’s second-ever tournament title, defeating TCU (12-5-3, 6-2-1 Big 12), 2-1, with a golden goal in the 94th minute on Sunday afternoon at Swope Soccer Village.
After dominating the scoreless first period, leading 8-0 in shots, the Bears cracked through with the first goal in the 69th minute. Aline De Lima pushed up the right side of the field, crossing in to a sprinting Camryn Wendlandt and Kennedy Brown in the box. The ball just missed Wendlandt’s foot, continuing across to Brown, who punched a shot from the left side of the box into the right back corner of the net.
As the second period continued to wind down, the Frogs were gifted a penalty kick on a hand ball in the box by the Bears, with TCU tying the match in the 87th minute.
With BU unable to take the lead in regulation, the team’s transitioned into the first overtime period.
In the 94th, Lauren Piercy got away from the TCU backline, going one-on-one with goalkeeper Katie Lund. Piercy drove her shot off of Lund, spinning away and into the back left corner of the net, giving BU the golden goal and the conference title.
NOTES
*Baylor notched the program’s second conference title, repeating its 2012 win over TCU to take home the Big 12 tournament trophy.
*Baylor completed a 3-0 sweep of the Big 12 Soccer Championship, with all three wins avenging overtime losses in the regular season.
*Baylor senior midfielder Aline De Lima was named the Big 12 Soccer Championship Offensive Most Outstanding Player, the third BU player to earn the honor (Courtney Saunders, 1996, and Dana Larsen, 2012).
*Baylor had five selections to the Big 12 Soccer Championship All-Tournament team, including Precious Akanyirige (defender), Sarah King (defender), Aline De Lima (midfielder), Julie James (midfielder), and Lauren Piercy (forward).
*Baylor earned the Big 12’s automatic qualifier bid to the NCAA tournament, the first postseason berth for the team since 2012.
STAT OF THE MATCH
7 – the number of points scored by Aline De Lima in the tournament, leading all players with two goals and three assists in the three matches.
WHAT’S NEXT
Baylor will wait to find out its seeding for the NCAA Tournament after earning the automatic bid, with the Division I Women’s Soccer NCAA Tournament Selection show scheduled for Monday, Nov. 6, at 3:30 p.m., on NCAA.com.
