Baylor boys' soccer team earns spot at state

Dee Appleberry talks with Baylor boys' soccer coach Curtis Blair before entering a game at McCallie last month. Blair is excited the Red Raiders are headed back to the state tournament for the first time in three years after beating Briarcrest 2-0 on Thursday night in a quarterfinal.
Dee Appleberry talks with Baylor boys' soccer coach Curtis Blair before entering a game at McCallie last month. Blair is excited the Red Raiders are headed back to the state tournament for the first time in three years after beating Briarcrest 2-0 on Thursday night in a quarterfinal.

With 11 seniors on the roster, the Baylor boys' soccer team believed it deserved to occupy one of the four slots in the Division II-AA state tournament.

After a while in Thursday's quarterfinal match against Briarcrest, the Red Raiders played like it, too.

photo Baylor's Matheus Maia, right, keeps the ball from McCallie's Matias James during a match last month at McCallie. Baylor beat Briarcrest 2-0 in a state quarterfinal Thursday night to advance to next week's state tournament in Murfreesboro, with Maia scoring the first goal against the Saints.

Shaking off some rust after two weeks of not playing, they started off slowly. But a goal late in the first half got them rolling, and they scored again early in the second half to cruise to a 2-0 win and advance to next week's semifinals in Murfreesboro. It will be the Red Raiders' first state berth since 2015, and they'll be seeking their first win since 2014.

Baylor will play Wednesday at 8 p.m. EDT.

Coaches gave the top-ranked Red Raiders (14-3-3) some time off after a stretch late in the regular sason in which they played four games in eight days, and that led to a lethargic start against the Saints (5-9-4). It wasn't until a goal by Matheus Maia in the 38th minute that the Red Raiders started to settle in, and they added a goal by Malcolm Jett eight minutes into the second half to truly get comfortable.

Keegan Weekley assisted on both goals.

"It was hard to get back into a rhythm," Baylor coach Curtis Blair said. "We gave them a lot of time off from training because we needed to get our legs back under us, and we lost our rhythm we had, because we had been playing well. Once we got the first goal, we settled down, and once we got the second one, then we really started to keep the ball and move the ball. That's what we want to do; we want to try to keep the ball and we move forward.

"We want to build from the back. Once we gain that confidence, we can do better and it makes things easier for us."

Blair praised the team's performance in slowing down sophomore midfielder Logan Stoltenborg, who had scored 10 of the Saints' 15 goals this season.

Mats Pokela was in goal for Baylor and stopped the only shot that came his way.

"I'm excited for the school and the program," Blair said of returning to state. "I'm excited to hang another banner, because this is a special group. We should be in Murfreesboro. Once you get there, anything can happen. The other three teams there are going to be good, so now it's just the ball, the bounce, who's better that day and can you finish chances.

"But as a coach, I'm ecstatic for the guys. They deserve to be back."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenleytfp.

Upcoming Events