By Foster Nicholas | Sports Writer
After two weeks of long road trips and extensive travel, Baylor soccer returns to Waco looking to get back in the win column with its home opener against Louisiana Tech University, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
Coming off a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Texas A&M University (0-2-1) on Saturday, Baylor (1-1-1) will get a taste of what a home crowd feels like on Thursday. Despite the tie, head coach Michelle Lenard and the Bears weathered a storm in the stands and competed at a high level.
“That’s probably going to be one of the most crazy experiences and crowds that we’re going to be in front of,” freshman forward Skylar Zinnecker said. “Just showing that we can come out and perform in front of almost 7,000 people means that nothing else can throw us off, really. So it’s really good to get that early in the season and have that experience under our belt.”
With the chants positively egging on the green and gold Thursday, Louisiana Tech (2-1-1) will face off against a team hungry to continue playing at a high level no matter the occasion, according to Lenard.
“Well, for us this season, this is our fourth game [and] our first home game, [and we’re] really going into every game, [and consistently] the focus for us has been about what we can do,” Lenard said. “And obviously, we prepare for our opponent. We want to kind of know what to expect. But really, it’s about consistency. We played really well against Oregon. We didn’t play our best against Nebraska, and we played well against A&M. So now, we need to string together two solid performances, be consistent, continue to play the way that we want to play and show our fans at home what we’re capable of.”
Sophomore midfielder Hannah Boughton transferred to Baylor in the spring and was hopeful to make an early impact on the pitch. Boughton was quickly able to transition into the green and gold alongside 14 other newcomers, and she said the team hasn’t missed a beat.
“We’re definitely a different team than last year,” Boughton said. “We’re ready to fight [and] ready to win some games. We’re not a team that’s going to go down easy. We all have really good chemistry on the team, and I think we’re only going to go up from here. I think we all have really good chemistry, and I think that reflects on the field too. I’m just excited to see our success this season.”
While the Bears are glad to be back home, the home opener is just another game. The team is approaching it with a “business as usual” mindset — but with some energy to look forward to.
“We want to be a team that’s not affected by [variables and be a team] that puts together the same type of performance week after week — whether it’s our first game of the week or the second, whether our opponent is really physical or not, whether the weather is comfortable, which it has not been, or not,” Lenard said. “So, yes, playing at home is another variable. But I think our players are very comfortable on this field, and they’re going to enjoy playing in front of their friends and family. So I expect nothing but the best from us in that environment.”
