Baylor Soccer opens Big 12 Play at Kansas State, No. 17 Kansas

WACO, TX — With the non-conference season in the rearview mirror, the Baylor soccer team hits the road to the Sunflower State to open up Big 12 play. The Bears begin league action with a 7 p.m. contest on Thursday at Kansas State before taking on No. 17 Kansas at 1 p.m. Sunday in Lawrence.

Both matches will be televised on the Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

Kansas State is currently 36^th in the nation with 16.4 shots per game. On the season, the Wildcats have three matches with 20 or more shots.

Baylor is 2-0 vs. Kansas State with both victories coming by a final score of 1-0.

After Thursday’s contest in Manhattan, Kan., the Bears travel to Lawrence where the nationally ranked Jayhawks await. KU boasts a 14-3-0 record in regular season home games since 2018. Eight different players have found the back of the net for Kansas, led by Katie McClure whose nine goals on the year rank her fourth in the country.

Keep up with the team all season long by following Baylor Soccer on the team's official Twitter (@BaylorFutbol), Facebook (Baylor Soccer), and Instagram (@BaylorFutbol).

MATCH INFO
Thursday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.
Buser Family Park
Stats: www.BaylorBears.com/stats
Video: Big 12 Now on ESPN+

MATCH INFO
Sunday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m.
Rock Chalk Park
Stats: www.BaylorBears.com/stats
Video: Big 12 Now on ESPN+

BAYLOR BEARS
2019 Record: 4-2-3
2019 Big 12 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Paul Jobson
Career: 80-41-17 (7th season)
BU: 80-41-17 (7th season)

KANSAS STATE WILDCATS
2019 Record: 2-5-2
2019 Big 12 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Mike Dibbini
Career: 37-50-14 (6^th season)
KSU: 16-37-8 (4^th season)

KANSAS JAYHAWKS
2019 Record: 8-2
2019 Big 12 Record: 0-0
Head Coach: Mark Francis
Career: 260-190-35 (24^th season)
KU: 227-165-34 (21^st season)

BIG 12’S BACK. BACK AGAIN.

• Baylor kicks off Big 12 play with a road trip to the Sunflower State this weekend. The Bears will face Kansas State at 7 p.m. on Thursday before playing Kansas at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

• This is the first time BU has opened conference action against Kansas State.

• Baylor is 6-13-4 in Big 12 openers with the most recent win coming by a final score of 2-0 in overtime vs. Oklahoma State in 2015. BU has lost its last two Big 12 openers and ended in a double overtime draw against Texas in 2016.

• Overall, BU is 16-23-7 over the opening weekend of conference play.

• Only twice has Baylor gone 2-0 to open league action - 2015 (W 1-0, OT vs. Oklahoma State; W, 1-0 at Iowa State) and 1998 (W, 1-0 at Kansas; W, 1-0 at Missouri).

BAYLOR’S BIG WEEKEND

• The Bears are coming off an exciting weekend where they wrapped up non-conference play.

• In front of a season-high 980 fans, Baylor rallied back from a 2-0 deficit at halftime to finish in a 2-2 draw in double overtime with then-ranked No. 2 USC. It marked an end to the Trojans’ 2019 winning streak as USC began the season 7-0.

• Junior goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt played out of her mind as she racked up a season’s best eight saves. She was one shy of tying her career high she set in 2018 in BU’s overtime win at West Virginia.

• Sophomores Elena Reyna and Giuliana Cunningham each scored their first goals of the season in the draw.

• After logging 110 minutes on Friday, the Bears came back and played 96 more in their 2-1 overtime win Sunday afternoon vs. Gonzaga.

• After recording her first assist at Baylor, and first since she was a freshman at Kentucky, Danielle Hayden took no prisoners as she took the ball from BU’s defensive half to the top of the box for her first career goal.

• Raegan Padgett delivered the golden goal - her second gamewinner of the season - off a cross from a corner kick by Ally Henderson.

THAT’S MY KEEPER

• Jennifer Wandt was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday morning. Wandt led the league with 10 saves over the weekend, including her eight saves against the Trojans.

• It marked the fourth career weekly award for Wandt and Baylor’s first of the 2019 season.

• Wandt leads the Big 12 with a 0.97 save percentage and is second in total saves with 32.

• She is now third in the program record books with 174 career saves behind Ashley Noah (2004-07, 440) and Dawn Greathouse (1997-00, 397).

RPI TRACKER

• The first RPI of the season was released on Monday with Baylor checking in at No. 35.

• That mark is good for fourth in the Big 12 behind Kansas (8), Oklahoma State (29) and Oklahoma (33).

• Rounding out the league is Texas Tech (47), West Virginia (64), TCU (65), Texas (118), Kansas State (121) and Iowa State (153).