The Baylor soccer team dominated on Senior Day from start to finish to shutout Jackson State, 7-0.
The game honored senior midfielder Bridget Hamway, senior midfielder Ashley York, senior defender Lindsay Burns, senior defender Emory Cason and senior forward Marissa Sullivan.
“One of the things that I challenged the team with and told them before the game was that we have to do what we do,” said heach coach Paul Jobson. “It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, we have to go to work. This might be one of the most complete senior days that we have had in a long time. It allowed us to get a lot of our prime-minute players off of the field which was helpful, especially after the win that we had on Friday night.”
With the momentum already in the Bears (7-3-0) favor after the 2-0 win over Washington on Friday, the team looked to continue with that momentum going into the match against the Lady Tigers (0-6-0).
“After an intense game Friday night, it allowed some of our younger players and less experienced players to get some experience which is valuable down the stretch as we start conference play,” Jobson said. “This was a great game for us in the way things worked out.”
The Bears got on the board in the sixth minute when sophomore forward Lauren Piercy connected with the goal after the cross in goal by sophomore midfielder Julie James.
Burns extended the Bears lead after a perfectly placed corner kick by York and touch by Piercy to tap the ball in the goal with just under nine minutes into the first half.
With the Bears in full control sophomore forward Amanda Hoglund was able to sneak a goal in through the keepers legs in the 23rd with the assist from sophomore forward Jackie Crowther.
“The first group really set the tone,” Jobson said. “They set the tone early and allowed the other girls to come in and they challenged the girls to keep that tone.”
Coming back from the break, the Bears continued with the level of play from the first.
Junior midfielder Aline De Lima connected twice on the night in the 46th and 55th minutes of play. The first came with an assist from sophomore midfielder Kennedy Brown and the second from sophomore forward Ariel Leach.
“I think everyone gets excited when girls who have worked so hard day in and day out are able to score goals,” Jobson said. “Those are great players who are working their way in and getting more time. To put an output like that tonight, that’s a great experience for them.”
Sullivan sealed the deal for the Bears after buying one in the net in the 58th minutebwith the assist from junior central midfielder Delanie Davis and in the 72nd minutes with the assist from Crowther.
“It was a great team effort,” Sullivan said. “Everyone came out to play today and it was just the energy from my teammates that got me going. I had a rough first half, but they picked me up and that’s how I got those two goals.”
The Bears open conference play 6 p.m. Friday against Texas at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
“I think we need to move on and focus on what’s next,” Sullivan said. “We just need to come out and practice hard, because we have a lot of hard opponents coming up. Enjoy it while we can, and get ready for the next game.”
