The Baylor soccer team eased its way past Washington last night at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field, 2-1.
The Bears (6-3-0) were on the road the past two weeks and suffered tough losses, but were able to stay composed and bring in the win Friday night.
“It starts with our leadership, and that’s in the back where our veterans are,” said head coach Paul Jobson. “This game can’t go by without talking about how well we played on defense. They had two really good goal scorers on that team and I think one of them had a shot. We did a really great job limiting their opportunities.”
The Bears dominated the match from the start and never let the Huskies take any momentum away.
“We just have to keep going at goal, keep going at goal and sometimes they’ll fall,” Jobson said. “I’m just proud of these girls and the maturity they showed.”
It was in the 31st minute on an assist from sophomore midfielder Sarah King on a long pass to sophomore forward Amanda Hoglund that put the Bears on top. Hoglund placed the ball perfectly as it went through the legs of the goalkeeper which allowed the Bears to take all the momentum and a 1-0 lead.
“That’s a big time goal from a young player,” Jobson said. “We’ve all been working on finishing this week and I’m proud of her to be able to get that. It changed the tone of the game. When you haven’t scored a goal in two games, you are looking for that first one and to get that monkey off our back. It gave us a little bit of calm.”
The Bears sealed the deal in the 52nd with a header into the goal of King, with the assist from freshman forward Raegan Padgett to extend the lead 2-0.
“I think after last weeks losses we just really came out and just wanted to win at home. We are glad to be back at Baylor. We played great games last week, just didn’t get the result that we did tonight so that’s good,” King said. “Reagan served a great cross right to my head. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
King led the Bears on the night with an assist and goal. It was King’s 13th assist of her career and she is now tied for seventh at Baylor all-time in career assists.
“She had a great game, goal and assist,” Jobson said. “She just had a quality performance tonight.”
The Bears next test will come at home 5 p.m. tomorrow where they take on Jackson State. The game will also serve as senior day.
“It’s always good to be back after two weekends away,” King said. “We just need to get recovery and get our heads set for the next game, senior day.”
