Sept. 8, 2016 WACO, Texas -- Baylor soccer ends a four-match road trip in Alabama this weekend with a 7 p.m. CT tilt at Samford on Friday and 2 p.m. game at Auburn on Sunday.
Both matches will feature live stats and video on SamfordSports.com and AuburnTigers.com, respectively. Sunday's match will air on ESPN3. Twitter updates will also be provided on the @BaylorFutbol official account.
MATCH INFO
Fri., Sept. 9 at SU @ 7 p.m.
Samford Track/Soccer Complex (1,200)
Stats: SamfordSports.com
Video: SamfordSports.com
Sun., Sept. 11 at AU @ 2 p.m.
Auburn Soccer Complex (1,500)
Stats: AuburnTigers.com
Video: ESPN3
BAYLOR BEARS
2016 Record: 5-1-0
2016 Big 12 Record: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Paul Jobson
Career: 14-7-4 (2nd season)
BU: 14-7-4 (2nd season)
SAMFORD BULLDOGS
2016 Record: 1-2-2
2016 SoCon Record: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Todd Yelton
Career: 217-113-39 (19th season)
SU: 177-81-35 (15th season)
AUBURN TIGERS
2016 Record: 3-3-0
2016 SEC Record: 0-0-0
Head Coach: Karen Hoppa
Career: 267-180-41 (24th season)
AU: 203-136-32 (18th season)
BAYLOR QUICK NOTES
* Baylor has won four straight matches for the first time since winning seven straight last season from Sept. 6-Oct. 2, 2015.
* Baylor is 5-1-0 or better to start a season for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
* Baylor is undefeated in 17 of its last 20 matches, dating back to the 2015 season.
* Baylor has 45 shutouts over the last four seasons (four in 2016).
* Baylor is 34-2-3 when scoring first since 2013.
* Baylor is 2-0-0 on its current four-match road trip, and 3-1-0 on the road overall in 2016.
* Baylor is 124-48-22 all-time at home and 54-16-11 under the Jobsons at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
* Among NCAA leaders, Baylor ranks 17th in goal against average (0.333), 19th in shutout percentage (0.667), 40th in goals (12), 41st in assists (11), 42nd in points (35) and 43rd in shots per game (17.67).
*Among Big 12 leaders, Baylor ranks first in goals against average, and shutout percentage, and fourth in goals per game (2.00), shots per game, shots on goal per game (8.17), assists, goals and points.
*Among individual leaders, sophomore forward Lauren Piercy leads the NCAA in game-winning goals (4), 20th in goals (5, first in Big 12), 25th in points (11, first in Big 12) and 46th in shots on goal per game (2.17, third in Big 12). Junior goalkeeper Sara Martinson ranks 11th in shutouts (3, first in Big 12) and 27th in goals against average (0.352, first in Big 12).
* Baylor holds significant edges over its opponents in goals (12-2), shots (106-19), shots on goal (49-7) and corner kicks (37-8).
* Piercy scored her fifth goal of the season (one shy of her career high) Sept. 4 at Illinois Chicago and 11th of her career for her 11th point of the season and 24th career point. She now has four goals scored in her last four games and 11 in 23 career games. She's the 17th player in program history to reach the 10 goal plateau.
* Piercy tallied her fourth game-winning goal (tying a career high) Sept. 4 at Illinois Chicago and eighth career game-winning goal to move into sixth place on Baylor's all-time list. Her season total is tied for seventh on BU's all-time list.
* Piercy was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Aug. 30. The weekly honor is Piercy's first from the Big 12 this season and third in her career, making her the second player in program history to earn three career weekly Big 12 awards (Ashley Noah, 2004-07). The accolade marks the first time she's been selected as the league's offensive player of week as she was named newcomer of the week twice last season. Since the program started in 1996, Baylor has earned 12 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Piercy netted both game-winners for Baylor last weekend and three goals for a six-point week.
* Piercy was Baylor's lone representative on the 2016 Preseason All-Big 12 Team after being named 2015 Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year, second-team All-Big 12 and making the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
* Martinson picked up her fifth win of the season Sept. 4 at Illinois Chicago and 14th of her career while adding her third shutout of the season and eighth of her career to move into a tie for fifth place all-time in career shutouts at Baylor.
* Martinson's scoreless streak of 309:18 is approaching her career high of 384:57 from Sept. 20-Oct. 9, 2015.
-BU-
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation Riding a four-game winning streak, the Baylor soccer team (5-1-0) will go back on the road for the second straight weekend, facing Samford (1-2-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in Birmingham, Ala., and then playing at Auburn (3-3-0) at 2 p.m. Sunday.
More than carrying over the momentum or building confidence, Baylor coach Paul Jobson sees it as a chance to "build on how much we are learning."
"We're still learning and growing and building as a team. How do we build on that each and every week?" Jobson said. "We did some good things (last week), but there are some things we've got to get better at if we're going to continue to compete through the rest of the season."
It took a pair of late goals for the Bears to pull out a pair of 1-0 road wins last weekend, with sophomore Julie James knocking in a header in the 88th minute against Northern Illinois and Lauren Piercy shooting one in from 10 feet to beat Illinois-Chicago for her national-best fourth game-winning goal of the season.
"There was not a freak-out moment in either one of those games," Jobson said. "We've had teams in the past where both of those would have been overtime games where we freak out and try to make something happen that's not there. We just continued to play our game, wear teams down and made things happen for ourselves. That showed a lot of maturity."
James, who scored her first goal of the season and fifth of her career, said the Bears "were just grinding it out the whole game and knew it would come."
Baylor is officially 1-0 all-time against Samford, knocking off the Bulldogs, 1-0, in 2006. But the Bears also pulled out a 1-0 win in last year's exhibition opener, with James getting the only goal on a header in the 11th minute.
"Samford is the top team in the (Southern Conference) every year. . . . and they're knocking off teams in the big conferences every year," Jobson said. "I've known (Samford coach Todd Yelton) for a long time. He does a great job in recruiting. Most of the team that we saw in preseason last year is back, along with some really good freshmen that are key players for him."
Senior forwards Jermaine Seoposenwe and Malcanisha Kelley have scored three goals apiece to lead a Samford squad that lost to Auburn, 4-3, tied Rice, 3-3, and also tied a Michigan State team (1-1) that handed the Bears their only loss of the season.
Before hosting Baylor on Sunday, Auburn opens conference play Friday night with a matchup against Vanderbilt (4-2) that will be televised by the SEC Network. The Tigers, coming off back-to-back losses against Iowa State and USC, haven't dropped three in a row since 2013.
While Piercy ranks among the Big 12 and national leaders with five goals, the defense has carried the Bears through the first six games. They are first in the Big 12 and top 20 nationally in goals-against average (0.33) and shutout percentage (0.67).
"It's comforting to have them behind you and know that if you make a mistake they're going to be there to pick you up," James said.
Jobson said he loves that goalkeeper Sara Martinson ranks near the bottom of the league in saves, despite giving up just two goals all year.
"I don't her having to make a lot of saves," Jobson said. "But the ones she has to make, I want her to be able to make them. And she's doing that right now. Our defense is doing a good job of not making her have to do a lot."
After finishing off the four-game road swing, the Bears will return home to face Washington and Jackson State next weekend and then open Big 12 play on Sept. 23 with a game against Texas that will be televised by FOX Sports Plus.
