ABILENE – There were many tense moments for Abilene Christian soccer during Monday's
NCAA Championship selection show. The Wildcats knew they were in as the Southland Conference's automatic qualifier, but who would they first play and when?
Texas A&M *Gasp*? Nope. The Aggies play North Texas.
TCU? Nope. The Horned Frogs get the West Coast Conference champions from BYU.
Texas Tech? Surely, the Wildcats will be asked to make the drive to Lubbock. But no again, as the Red Raiders drew the Ivy Leaguers from Princeton.
Vanderbilt was revealed followed by Murray State (where ACU athletics director
Allen Ward previously served for 13 years) and then – finally – up popped the name of Abilene Christian and its 15-5-1 record. The cheers in the room were accompanied by a split second of nervous hesitation as their opponent had yet to be shown.
Would it be Arkansas? Baylor? Texas? A flight to the coast?
Oddly enough, it ended up being the ninth-ranked and nationally second-seeded Bears, who the Wildcats opened their 2018 season against on Aug. 16. Their rematch will take place Saturday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
Baylor – ranked 15th to begin the year – prevailed, 2-0, with both goals coming in the second half. Maddie Algya scored the game-winner in the 59th minute and Taylor Moon provided insurance with her breakaway chip shot in the 88th minute.
Junior midfielder Shay Johnson on drawing Baylor
The Bears (17-5) fired 15 shots that evening and ended up being only one of three opponents (New Mexico St. and Central Arkansas) all season to score twice on ACU in a single match as the Wildcats developed one of the NCAA's best defenses. ACU enters this week ranked third nationally in save percentage (0.897), sixth in goals-against average (0.502) and seventh in shutout percentage (0.619).
The Wildcats additionally have outscored their opposition, 32-11, with all goals allowed coming after halftime. ACU also claims at 374-238 shot advantage and 121-64 lead in corner kicks this season.
ACU, which ranked 67th in the RPI following today's bracket reveal, is making its first NCAA D1 Tournament appearance in only its second year of eligibility. The Wildcats were kept out of the postseason from 2013-16 despite posting four-consecutive winning records vs. the Southland due to the NCAAs reclassification rules, and last year they pitched back-to-back scoreless shutouts vs. McNeese and Stephen F. Austin but just missed the conference championship match because of penalty kicks.
Hard to believe, but the Wildcats have yet to lose a match in regulation through five Southland Conference tournament matches (3-0-2).
Southland Conference Championship Highlights
In the years leading up to their NCAA D1 entry, the Wildcats were one of the preeminent programs within D2 and the Lone Star Conference. They qualified for their first NCAA postseason and won their first Lone Star Conference tournament in their fourth year of existence (2010), and the following autumn they produced a 20-2-1 ledger in reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Two seasons later ACU recorded 13 victories in its first D1 season, and during this campaign they've already recorded the third-most victories within a single season at 15.
Baylor today earned the program's sixth NCAA bid, while getting the right to host the opening round in Waco for a fifth time. The Bears have clinched back-to-back postseason bids for the third time, and earned a national seed just one other time – named a No. 3 seed in 2012.
Baylor is 5-4-2 all-time in the NCAA tournament and will look to repeat its historic run in 2017, during which the Bears advanced to the Elite 8 for the first time in program history.
