Aug. 21, 2008
The Baylor soccer team kicks off the 2008 season on the road Friday as the Bears travel to El Paso to face UTEP at 7 p.m. This marks the first time since 2004 that the Bears have begun the season away from home.
"We are ready to get the season started," head coach Marci Jobson said. "These girls have worked very hard in the preseason and we can't wait to get out and see how far we have progressed."
Baylor returns 16 players from last year's squad which finished the year with a 7-10-2 record. The Bears welcome 13 newcomers, including 12 freshmen, to a program that will look to mesh quickly with a new staff.
"I think everyone has done a great job of coming together as a team," Jobson said. "A lot of things may be new, but once the whistle blows, it's still the game of soccer."
The Bears will count on senior defenders Carolyn Lynch and Elena Sutherland to anchor a back line that will see a new goalkeeper in net for the first time in four years. Offensively, sophomore forward Lotto Smith returns as the team's leading scorer after a five goal output in 2007.
UTEP, which returns 10 letterwinners from a team that advanced to the semifinals of the 2007 Conference USA tournament, enters the season in search of its school-record seventh straight 10-plus win season. The Miners return junior Tameka Sumter for the 2008 campaign after an 11 goal, five assist season in 2007.
The meeting with the Miners marks the second time the squads have faced each other in school history as Baylor claimed the victory in the previous meeting with a 1-0 victory in 1996.
