By Greg DeVries
Sport Writer
The Baylor soccer team moved to 4-1 on the season with a 3-0 shutout of former Big 12 foe Nebraska. The Bears are now 2-0 at home this season and have yet to allow a goal on their home field.
“I didn’t think this game was going to be a 3-0 game going into this. I thought this was going to be a bloodbath,” head coach Marci Jobson said. “We didn’t let up. We kept hammering away, and I think our pressure ended up taking their hearts out.”
Junior midfielder Karlee Summey took two corner kicks early in the first half and served each into the six-yard box. Baylor threatened goal each time, but couldn’t capitalize on either opportunity.
Baylor maintained the majority of possession in the beginning of the game, but Nebraska still managed to earn goal-scoring opportunities regularly. Sophomore goalkeeper Michelle Kloss kept the game level.
The game was physical from start to finish. Fourteen fouls were called in the match, but players on both sides were consistently playing with a lot of tenacity.
In the 17th minute, a booming punt by Kloss sailed past the Nebraska defense. Senior forward Dana Larsen beat the goalie to the left side of the net to earn the first goal of the game. This marked her team-leading third goal of the season.
Junior forward Alex Klein broke free on a through-ball and was one-on-one with the keeper about thirty yards from the goal with 12 minutes to play in the half. Nebraska’s keeper, Emma Stevens, challenged her for the ball and took Klein to the ground, denying Baylor a clear goal-scoring opportunity.
“One [on] one, going for goal, the keeper should come out, but I wasn’t really sure what she was going to do, so I was just running forward hoping to try and score,” Klein said.
The referee gave Stevens a red card, but Baylor couldn’t capitalize on the free kick. Nebraska had to play with ten players on the pitch for the rest of the match because of the ejection.
It appeared as though the Bears had taken a 2-0 advantage when senior midfielder Lisa Sliwinski headed the ball into the back of the net. The assistant referee had his flag raised, signaling that Sliwinski was offside, and the goal was taken off of the board.
Sliwinski scored a goal that counted with about four minutes left in the half. After stealing the ball from the Nebraska defense, Sliwinski hit a left footed shot into the back corner of the net to extend Baylor’s advantage to 2-0.
“[The offsides call] maybe put a little fire under me,” Sliwinski said. “It is frustrating when you do the work and then it’s called back.”
The Bears took that lead into the half. Baylor also had a 10 shot advantage at half that eventually extended to 26 by the end of the game.
Summey scored her first goal of the season in the 63rd minute of play. The midfielder settled the ball with her left foot, and struck the ball towards the near post. The ball passed the goalkeeper, hit the post, and crossed the line for Baylor’s third goal of the game.
Baylor will next take on McNeese State at home at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“Even though McNeese maybe isn’t in as good of a conference as Nebraska, they’re still a tough, hard-working team,” Klein said. “Our depth really comes in handy… on Sundays.”
