Aug. 25, 2016 WACO, Texas -- Baylor soccer begins its 2016 home season by taking on Purdue at 7 p.m. CT on Friday and Incarnate Word at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
After opening the season last weekend on the road with a split at Detroit Mercy (won 2-0) and Michigan State (lost 1-0), the Bears look to improve upon their 16-2-2 all-time record in home openers. Both matches will feature live stats and Sunday's will have streaming audio on BaylorBears.com. Twitter updates will also be provided on the @BaylorFutbol official account.
MATCH INFO
Fri., Aug. 26 vs Purdue @ 7 p.m.
Betty Lou Mays Field (3,000)
Stats: BaylorBears.com
Sun., Aug. 28 vs UIW @ 5 p.m.
Betty Lou Mays Field (3,000)
Stats: BaylorBears.com
Audio: BaylorBears.com
BAYLOR BEARS
2016 Record: 9-6-4
2016 Big 12 Record: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Paul Jobson
Career: 10-7-4 (2nd season)
BU: 10-7-4 (2nd season)
PURDUE BOILERMAKERS
2016 Record: 1-1-0
2016 Big Ten Record: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Drew Roff
Career: 134-73-13 (12th season)
PU: 10-9-1 (2nd season)
INCARNATE WORD CARDINALS
2016 Record: 0-1-0
2016 Southland Record: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Anne Felts
Career: 5-28-5 (3rd season)
UIW: 5-28-5 (3rd season)
BAYLOR QUICK NOTES
* Baylor is 16-2-2 all-time in home openers and 7-1-0 under the Jobsons.
* Baylor is undefeated in 13 of its last 16 matches, dating back to the 2015 season.
* Baylor has 42 shutouts over the last four seasons (one in 2016).
* Baylor is 30-2-3 when scoring first since 2013.
* With a 2-0 win at Detroit Mercy on Aug. 19, Baylor moved to 15-5-1 all-time in season openers. Under the Jobsons, BU is 6-2-1 in season openers.
* Sophomore forward Lauren Piercy notched her seventh career goal and first of 2016 at Detroit Mercy on Aug. 19, and now has seven goals in 19 career games.
* Senior defender Lindsay Burns scored her third career goal at Detroit Mercy on Aug. 19 and first since scoring two in 2013.
* Senior midfielder Ashley York picked up her fifth and sixth career assists on Aug. 19 at Detroit Mercy and first two of 2016 for her first career multi-assist game -- she has already tied a career high in assists for a season (two in 2015).
* Junior goalkeeper Sara Martinson earned her 10th career win at Detroit Mercy on Aug. 19 to take sole possession of sixth place on Baylor's all-time wins list, passing Monica Housden (2002-03).
* Martinson earned her sixth career shutout to move into a tie for sixth on BU's all-time list (Housden).
* Martinson played in her 29th career game on Aug. 21 at Michigan State to take sole possession of sixth place on BU's all-time goalkeeper games played list (Housden). Her 17 career starts rank eighth on BU's career goalkeeper games started list.
* Senior defender Bridget Hamway, sophomore forward Ariel Leach and sophomore defender Kylie Ross each made their first career starts for Baylor on Aug. 19 at Detroit Mercy.
* Junior midfielder Aline De Lima, freshman defender Marissa Kinsey, freshman forward Raegan Padgett, junior defender Caitlin Schwartz, freshman defender Halee Sowinski and freshman midfielder Ashley Thornhill each made their Baylor debut on Aug. 19 at Detroit Mercy.
* Baylor's 2016 team captains are Precious Akanyirige, Lindsay Burns, Emory Cason and Julie James.
-BU-
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Coming off a road split, including a frustrating 1-0 loss to Michigan State, Baylor soccer (1-1-0) returns home to host Purdue (1-1-0) at 7 p.m Friday and Incarnate Word (0-1-0) at 5 p.m. Sunday at Betty Lou Mays Field.
"Being on the road was great, but obviously everyone loves playing at home," head coach Paul Jobson said. "The girls were a little fatigued from getting in at 4 o'clock Monday morning and having to go to class at 8. But Tuesday, there was a lot of excitement. They were excited to get back out here and play. Just the resiliency of this team and the excitement they have for the season and for each other is a lot of fun. Stepping on the field every day is fun."
In a 2-0 season-opening victory at Detroit Mercy, the Bears got goals from sophomore forward Lauren Piercy and senior defender Lindsay Burns, both assisted by Ashley York. Two days later, they dominated in shots (17-4) and shots on goal (7-1), but fell to the Spartans on a goal in the 81st minute.
"You hate to dominate every statistical category except for the one that counts," Jobson said. "Unfortunately, in our sport, that happens sometimes. I think as we mature as a team and mature in the attacking phase of the game, those things start to fall. But what I was most proud of was our mentality, our focus on the field and really our lock-down defense, which has always been a signature of ours."
While that loss was frustrating, Piercy said the team gained some valuable lessons on "how to regroup, overcome that and start moving ahead in the season and learning from the mistakes we made."
Jobson said the one goal against Michigan State "came from inexperience at some spots, but it's something we'll address and learn from it, for sure."
"We're not looking at the film and going, `Oh no, we don't know to fix that,''' he said. "It's definitely fixable."
Purdue opened the season at home last weekend, pulling out a 2-1 win over Marshall before falling in overtime to Marshall by the same score. Last year, the Boilermakers defeated Baylor, 2-1, in West Lafayette, Ind., on a late goal by Dagny Olson.
"Drew (Ruff) is in his second year there, and I think he's got things going more the way he wants," Jobson said of Purdue's head coach. "Just watching them, they're extremely organized, they're extremely athletic, fast on the wings. I really like what I'm seeing from them and what he's done with that team. They're going to be a quality side for a good Friday night match."
Winless in the first five games last season, the Bears exploded with five second-half goals in beating Incarnate Word, 7-1.
"We're the one with pressure on us for that game, and I think they know that," Jobson said of Sunday's game against the Cardinals, who host Houston Friday night after opening with a 4-0 loss at North Texas. "They can come in here and be somewhat relaxed and ready to play. And they're always going to put up a fight. They put up a fight last year. . . . They really put some pressure on us early. They know that, and I think they'll be ready to play us, for sure."
After the brief two-game home stand, the Bears will play their next four on the road, traveling back to the midwest next weekend to face Northern Illinois and Illinois-Chicago.
