Baylor hosted Vestavia Hills (AL) Friday night in a non-region soccer matchup on campus, and the Red Raiders answered a late challenge to secure a 2-1 victory.
After a competitive opening half, neither side could find the back of the net, sending the match into halftime scoreless.
The breakthrough came in the 64th minute when Hartley Workman was fouled in the box, giving Baylor a penalty kick opportunity. Liam Guay calmly converted from the spot to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 advantage.
Vestavia Hills answered ten minutes later in the 74th minute, scoring off a free kick to level the match at 1-1.
Baylor responded immediately. Just a minute later in the 75th minute, Petar Radoman delivered the decisive goal, putting the Red Raiders back in front 2-1. The Baylor defense held firm the rest of the way to secure the win.
"I thought for the first 15–20 minutes we played really well and moved the ball," said head coach Curtis Blair. "The last 20 minutes of the first half, we were very undisciplined in our play and how we handled adversity. I thought we came back in the second half and did a great job of controlling what we could control. At halftime, it really was less about soccer but more about our character as a team and our guys responded very well. I was also proud that we came back after giving up a goal and Petar scored a great goal."
With the win, Baylor improves to 5-0-1 on the season, while Vestavia Hills falls to 12-2-3.
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