The Baylor boys soccer team hosted Montgomery Bell Academy in a Division II-AA Quarter Final on Saturday. The reigning state champions were unable to find their groove as they bowed out of the state tournament with a 4-0 loss to MBA.
“We knew going in that we needed to play our best, but there are days like these when you don’t put your best foot forward.” said Baylor Head Coach Curtis Blair.
MBA midfielder, Brycen Brown, scored the early goal that put Baylor on their heels. Brown collected a deflected cross on the right side of the field and fired his shot into the opposite corner.
MBA’s second came off of a free kick that was delivered by Brown and headed in by midfielder, Henry Hylbert, to give the Big Red a 2-0 lead at half time.
The Red Raiders picked up the intensity the second half and created a couple goal scoring opportunities. Their hope was deflated when Brown found the ball in the box and punished the Red Raiders again when he found the bottom left corner.
The Brown to Hylbert connection yielded MBA’s fourth goal as Hylbert headed in another one of Brown’s crosses from a free kick.
Coach Blair was disappointed with the result but held his head high and applauded his team on a good season. “Family” is a common theme around Baylor and that was the word that Coach Blair used to describe his team.
“They (the players) love Baylor Soccer and love their teammates.” said Coach Blair. “We’re family and we will pick ourselves up and keep going.”
MBA has a state semifinal date with Christian Brothers on Wednesday at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro.
McCallie will play Father Ryan in the other semifinal.