Baumann gets soccer hat trick in 3-0 triumph over Texas Tech

Andrew Nickerson

In basketball, it’s referred to as a triple-double.

In hockey, it’s called a hat trick.

On Sunday afternoon, Kristina Baumann did the soccer version of the hat trick as she scored three goals, two in the first half to lift the ISU women’s soccer team to a 3-0 Big 12 Conference win over Texas Tech in wet and slippery conditions at the Cyclone Soccer Complex.

With the win, Iowa State moves to 7-9-1 overall, and they finish the conference season at 4-6. Texas Tech drops to 2-16 overall and 0-9 in the conference.

“It was cold and wet, but it was actually fun playing in the snow,” Baumann said. “Before the game, [ISU interim] coach [Rebecca Hornbacher] said ‘Who’s going to score?’ and I said ‘I am.’ I had a lot of confidence going into the game today.”

The Cyclones positioned themselves early in the first half to score, including a Baumann breakaway attempt that was stopped by the Red Raiders’ goalkeeper, Megan Knauss.

Baumann’s first goal came during the 21st minute on a penalty kick, when Amy Flores tried to head the ball into the goal, but came to contact with Knauss, who was awarded a foul. The foul set up the penalty kick.

The Cyclones’ second goal was set up by Arlene Samuel and Leslie Hansell as they fed Baumann, who blasted a shot past the diving Knauss to make it 2-0. Deb Benakis set up Baumann’s third goal in the 51st minute on a breakaway attempt.

“I had a bad touch in the second goal, but luckily I placed in the corner. My last one was on the breakaway,” said Baumann, who has a team-high six goals this season. “This was a big win for us. Offensively, we’ve scored more goals in the last two games then the other games we’ve played.”

Hornbacher has been impressed with the freshman forward’s play as of late.

“Kristina Baumann had a terrific weekend. She’s a tremendous goal scorer and she’s been able to create a lot of opportunities for herself all year long in getting shots,” Hornbacher said. “I am just really happy for her because she really works and she puts in the extra work. She’s a tremendous player. She’s going to be great for us.”

Hornbacher said attacking early in the contest set the tone for the game.

“We want to continually develop as a team and progress each game. We have been able to create a lot more opportunities in the attack and got something that I challenged them to do,” Hornbacher said. “The weather was very wet out and obviously very cold. The weather is something you can’t control. You have to play your game. I think the girls did what they needed to do get the game done today.”

Hornbacher said if they want to secure a spot in the Big 12 tournament, they had to win the weekend games, something that they accomplished.

“Right now it’s between us and four teams fighting for two spots,” Hornbacher said. “I told the girls before the weekend that we had to win both games. We’ve done what that we needed to do this weekend. Now we have to see what the other results turn out to be.”

Nikki Gamble had four shot attempts on goal for the Cyclones, who outshot Texas Tech 21-11.

“We wanted to get going and score a lot of goals right way,” Gamble said. “If we weren’t going hard for a goal, we wanted to keep the ball. We didn’t want them to get them opportunities.”

On Friday afternoon, Iowa State won an overtime thriller as Baumann scored with 6:10 remaining to lift the Cyclones to a 4-3 victory over Baylor. Baumann fed Kelly Burke, who scored the game-tying goal with 24 seconds remaining in the contest. The game marked the first time since Oct. 26, 2001 that the Cyclones had scored four goals.

“We have to continually work on getting better as a team,” Hornbacher said. “I think we’ve shown that a lot lately in our offensive output with seven goals in the last two games, and that’s a good mark for us.”