Dash 4 - Bears 0

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor soccer dropped a 4-0 decision in an exhibition match to the National Women's Soccer League's Houston Dash on Thursday evening at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.

The teams played three 30-minute periods with the first period proving most damaging. The Dash, who are led by Randy Waldrum -- Baylor's first-ever soccer coach who brought the school its first-ever Big 12 championship in 1998 -- jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead with goals in the fourth, 12th and 15th minutes. However, the Bears buckled down after that as they shut out Houston during the second period, and then gave up a goal in the 75th minute.

In the first half, the Dash led in shots 4-3 and 9-4 overall. In corner kicks, Houston held a 10-0 edge. BU notched five saves, four by freshman Maggie Burton.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"I was proud of our girls with the way they didn't quit, kept playing and really knew that this was going to be a learning experience." -- Head Coach Paul Jobson

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor hosts Houston Baptist at 7 p.m. CT Saturday for its final exhibition before opening the season Aug. 19 at Detroit Mercy. Admission to Saturday's exhibition match is free.

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

If Baylor coach Paul Jobson's objective for Thursday's exhibition match against the Houston Dash was to "see where our holes are," he got his wish.

That included some breakdowns on the defensive end that led to three goals in the first 15 minutes as the Houston pro soccer team added one more in the third 30-minute period to walk away with a 4-0 victory on a hot, sultry night at Betty Lou Mays Field.

"When you play a team that's better than you, and you know that coming in, you're going to see your holes. And we did," Jobson said. "We also saw the kids that wanted to step up and fight and wanted to play; they didn't care who the opponent was. . . . We're going to get a lot out of this. We had glimpses of things where we were like, `Wow, we can do some things here.' But there were some breakdowns that we were like, `OK, there's some really big holes we need to adjust before we can move on to our next game and as we approach the season.'''

Even with six of the Dash players in Brazil with their respective Olympic teams, including Carli Lloyd and Morgan Brian with USA, Houston took advantage of Baylor's defensive lapses to jump out to the quick lead.

Former Texas Tech standout Caity Heap got one by goalkeeper Sara Martinson just 3:46 into the opening period when the defense failed to clear a loose ball in the box. Chioma Ubogagu was credited with what amounted to an own goal that deflected off a Baylor defender, then assisted on Heap's second goal to make it 3-0 just 14 minutes in.

"We knew when we first came out that there would be a lot of nerves," senior defender Lindsay Burns said. "We just needed to come out more focused and ready. It was kind of a tornado coming out, and they're great players, and they're going to capitalize on that."

After that rough stretch, the Bears gave up just one goal over the last 76 minutes, with Ubogagu assisting on a Tessa Floria tally. That one snuck by freshman goalie Maggie Burton, who had four of the team's five saves while playing in net for the last 30 minutes.

While nerves made have played a factor in the Bears' rough start, Jobson said it had more to do with speed of play. The Bears had six freshmen seeing their first collegiate action.

"I have a few girls out there that are freshmen in college that are coming from the club level, the high school level, that aren't even up to college speed of play yet," Jobson said. "And they had to step up to play pro speed of play today. So, that was a huge jump for them.

"But, I do think we battled through it. No one gave up and was like, `Oh man, we can't do this.' They stepped up to the challenge. Especially that second period, I thought we did a much better job of keeping the play in front of us. No one expected us to come out and beat the Houston Dash. Yes, we want to win every game. But if we can get something out of it, that's what a preseason exhibition is all about."

The annual "Meet the Bears" event concluded with an autograph session with the Bears and the Dash, which is led by former Baylor and Notre Dame coach Randy Waldrum. He started the Baylor program in 1996 and won the school's first Big 12 championship two years later.

This was Waldrum's first trip to Baylor since a reunion eight years ago when he "came straight into Floyd Casey Stadium. I didn't even get a chance to get over on campus."

"It's great anytime I can get back here," he said. "It's amazing, obviously, with what they've done with the baseball stadium and softball and tennis facilities. And I think the last time I was here, they still hadn't changed out this press box. . . . I told our team, none of this was here. (Betty Lou Mays Field) was an old baseball field that looked like a Little League park, and we were playing over there where the (Simpson Athletic and Academic Center) is now. My gosh, it's really grown."

In a quick turnaround, Baylor will host Houston Baptist in another exhibition match at 7 p.m. Saturday before opening the regular season with a game at Detroit Mercy next Friday, Aug. 19.

Playing two exhibition games in three days was by design, Jobson said. That's the way most of the season is set up.

"We're not 90-minute fit yet, and we shouldn't be," he said. "We're nine days into this. We're fit, but we're not 90-minute fit. This isn't just about what are you doing to prepare for games as far as soccer-wise and technical and tactical. How do we learn as a young team to take care of our bodies to prepare for that game in two days? We're going to know really quickly who can and who can't do that."