Baylor soccer matches best-ever finish with second straight Elite Eight run

In 2017, Baylor soccer finished off the best season in program history by winning the Big 12 tournament and reaching the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time.

The Bears’ encore in 2018? A school-record 20 wins, a regular season Big 12 championship, and a second straight trip to the Elite Eight.

Baylor’s season came to an end Saturday when the 11th-ranked Bears lost on the road to No. 2-ranked Georgetown, 3-0. Head coach Paul Jobson’s squad finished the year with a 20-5 record, breaking the program record for victories set in 2012 when Jobson’s wife, Marci, was the team’s head coach. The Bears won the 2018 Big 12 title back in October — the program’s first in 20 years — and finished as runners-up at the 2018 Big 12 tournament.

Pegged as a No. 2 national seed for this year’s NCAA tournament — again, the program’s best-ever seeding —  the Bears earned the right to host the first three rounds. Baylor beat Abilene Christian, No. 13 Vanderbilt and No. 12 Virginia in succession before falling to undefeated Georgetown Saturday in D.C. For the second year in a row, Baylor was the last team standing from both the Big 12 and the state of Texas.

Looking ahead to 2019, the Bears will lose seven seniors to graduation — including All-Big 12 midfielder Julie James, who finished her career ninth all-time at Baylor in career goals. But three other 2018 All-Big 12 selections will return next fall, along with five other starters, setting the Bears up for continued success.

Sic ’em, Baylor soccer!