Baylor girls' soccer team battles on despite depth issues

photo Rachel Payne of Baylor, left, and Sarah Corum of GPS give chase to the ball during their soccer match on Sept. 30 at GPS. Payne and the Lady Red Raiders host Pope John Paul II in the first round of the state playoffs.

Soccer TourneysSoccer region tournament schedule today:3-A/AA SemifinalsGrace Academy (12-5) at Hixson (12-6), 5:30East Ridge (6-8-2) at Boyd-Buchanan (11-5-2), 74-A/AA SemifinalsChattanooga Christian (9-5-4) at Central Magnet (19-0), 6Merrol Hyde (10-7-2) at Notre Dame (7-5-4), 73-AAA SemifinalsStone Memorial (8-3-3) at East Hamilton (12-3-2), 7McMinn County (14-2-2) at Cookeville (12-4-2), 8Division II-AA State First RoundPope John Paul II at Baylor, 7

photo Baylor's Rachel Payne is the only senior on a soccer team that has been shorthanded at times because of injuries but is two wins away from the Division II-AA state final four.
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At times they've been the few, but they've always been proud.

They're the Baylor School girls' soccer team.

The Lady Red Raiders have combined a lack of depth with a lot of injuries, which have at times decimated their numbers during the 2014 season. They have played some matches with 12 players, started some with no reserves and on numerous occasions been left with 10 players during a match.

Yet despite having numbers resembling a high school varsity basketball team, they're two matches away from the state tournament.

Baylor enters tonight's Division II-AA state playoffs first-round match against Pope John Paul II with a 4-9-4 record. A win today will earn the Lady Raiders a trip to Father Ryan in Nashville, where a win would get them to the state semifinals next week in Murfreesboro.

"This season has been interesting because you don't know who you're going to have at practice or at games," Baylor coach Curtis Blair said. "We've made no excuses, though; we've said that bad things happen, but we must continue to move forward and there are no 'what ifs.' We have the same focus whether we have 11 players or 16 -- that we're going to put our best group on the field and compete, and eventually it'll pay off."

The team's lone senior, midfielder Rachel Payne, said one of the positives is that Blair has not lowered the expectations despite the lack of numbers at times. The goal always has been to make it to the final four, and as players have gone down throughout the course of the season, the team has banded together even more.

Payne took a shot to the head against rival GPS recently. The Lady Red Raiders briefly had to play with 10 players, but Payne fought her way back in the game, even chasing down the physician who had to check her out to make sure she hadn't suffered a concussion.

"I think everybody on this team is like that, though," she said. "We've lost a lot of matches this season, but when you see how hard we've played, it's not a failure when you have no subs at all."

With at most two weeks left in her senior season, Payne has been trying to rally the girls for one final run toward a championship.

"When I was a freshman, I was lucky to get to play the last five minutes," she said. "Now we have freshmen that don't come out. My message to them has been that you obviously want to win it all, but I want to see them play as hard as they can.

"We have to leave it all out there and be proud to play for Baylor. If you don't have that attitude, there's not much we can do."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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