Aug. 26, 2016 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
Like a caged tiger, the Baylor soccer team came out attacking after an 85-minute lightning delay Friday night and scored two goals in the first 7 ½ minutes en route to a dominating 5-1 victory over the Purdue Boilermakers.
In their home opener at Betty Lou Mays Field, the Bears (2-1-0) scored their most goals against a Power 5 team since a 7-0 win over Texas Tech on Oct. 21, 2000.
"We talked about it in the locker room before the game that we needed to set the tone early and we needed to continue that for 90 minutes. And I think we did that," Baylor coach Paul Jobson said. "We came out early, set the tone, went at them early and never backed down."
Just five days earlier, the Bears out-shot Michigan State 17-4 and dropped a 1-0 decision on the road. They weren't about to let that happen again.
Barely three minutes into the game, Julie James picked off an errant Purdue pass in the Boilermakers' end and fed Sarah King on the left wing for a goal to the top right corner of the net.
"Even before Sarah hit that first goal, I knew it was in," said Lauren Piercy, who scored four minutes later off a midfield pass from Bridget Hamway. "And I think that got us even more pumped up. We had the lightning delays and rain delays, and I think everyone had all this pent-up energy and we were just ready to go. Once we got out here, we went for it."
With the lightning strikes delaying the start by nearly an hour and a half, Jobson said he left the players alone and "we let them do their thing."
"You're sitting there as a coach wondering how they're going to handle it," he said. "Being at home is a better place to handle it than being on the road. . . . However we managed the pregame, whatever they did to get themselves mentally ready was great. The delay didn't affect them at all."
Piercy said the coaches' only message was to "keep it on simmer" and not use up all their energy before the game. "We started having like a dance party in our locker room. We were just so excited to get out there."
King followed up her early goal with her 11th career assist to give the Bears a 3-0 lead in the 21st minute. Her cross from the left wing hit Ariel Leach in the box, with the sophomore forward firing a shot through traffic to the right side of the net for her first career goal.
Purdue (1-2-0), which didn't even get the ball into the box in the first 18 minutes, got on the board with a goal by Hannah Leinert from the left wing that glanced off the right post.
"Any goal is tough to give up," said Baylor goalkeeper Sara Martinson. "I think it was just a really great shot that the girl hit to the opposite side. We just have to keep grinding, keep working on it. That's why we come out tomorrow . . . and start trying to figure out, OK, what do we next time to prevent that shot from happening. And then, if that does get off, what can do I do better next time."
Not satisfied with the 3-1 halftime lead, the Bears kept the pressure on and scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the second period.
Senior defender Emory Cason made a run up the left wing and dished off to Piercy for a finish to the right side of the net. That was Piercy's team-high third goal of the season and ninth career goal and gave Baylor a 4-1 lead less than two minutes into the period.
And then Cason was at it again five minutes later when she dropped a long pass into freshman Raegan Padgett for a breakaway goal to the right side of the net. Baylor finished with a 19-4 edge in shots, 9-2 in shots on goal and 5-0 on corner kicks.
"You can't get comfortable with a two-goal lead, a three-goal lead," Jobson said. "We just kept telling them, you've got to keep your foot on the gas, you've got to keep going at them. . . . Once you let down, you open yourself up to lose and to give up goals, and our girls were determined not to do that today."
Baylor returns to the pitch to host Incarnate Word (0-2-0) at 5 p.m. Sunday. Last year, the Bears ended a five-game, season-opening winless streak with five second-half goals in a 7-1 win over the Cardinals.
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor soccer won a 5-1 match over Purdue in its home opener on Friday evening at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field. The Bears (2-1-0) scored two goals in the first eight minutes to leave the Boilermakers (1-2-0) unable to recover.
After a one-hour and 25-minute lightning delay to start the game, Baylor wasted little time jumping on top of Purdue. In the fourth minute, Julie James captured a Purdue turnover in its own end at the top of the box and hit Sarah King on the left wing for a goal to the top right corner.
Four minutes later, Bridget Hamway lobbed a midfield pass over the top of the defense to Lauren Piercy. After a scramble for the ball between a defender, goalkeeper and herself, Piercy came out with it and fired from the right wing into an empty net for a 2-0 lead.
BU made it a 3-0 lead in the 21st minute as King was on the giving end this time. Her cross from the left wing hit Ariel Leach in the box and she fired a shot through traffic to the right side of the net for the goal.
Purdue cut into the lead with a goal in the 23rd minute, but after halftime, the Bears quickly regained all momentum. In the 47th minute, Emory Cason made a run up the left wing and passed to Piercy in the middle of the box for a finish to the right side of the net. Five minutes later, Cason dropped a long pass into Raegan Padgett for a breakaway goal to the right side of the net for the final goal of the game.
NOTES
*Baylor is 2-1-0 or better to start a season for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
*Baylor scored its most goals in a game since an 8-0 win over UTSA in Waco on Sept. 13, 2015.
*Baylor trails the all-time series against Purdue, 2-1, and the Boilermakers claimed a 2-1 win last season in West Lafayette, Ind. -- the teams met in Waco for the first time on Friday evening.
*Baylor is 17-2-2 all-time in home openers and 8-1-0 under the Jobsons.
*Baylor is undefeated in 14 of its last 17 matches, dating back to the 2015 season.
*Baylor is 31-2-3 when scoring first since 2013.
*Sophomore forward Sarah King scored her first goal of the season and third of her career while also adding her first assist of the season and 11th of her career for her 17th career point.
*Sophomore midfielder Julie James had her first assist of the season and second of her career for her 10th career point.
*Sophomore forward Lauren Piercy scored her second and third goals of the season and eighth and ninth of her career for her 19th career point, marking her first career multi-goal game.
*Senior defender Bridget Hamway had the first assist of her career for her first career point.
*Sophomore forward Ariel Leach scored her first career goal for her first two career points.
*Senior defender Emory Cason notched her first two career assists for her first two points of the season and fourth career point.
*Freshman forward Raegan Padgett scored her first career goal for her first two points.
*Junior goalkeeper Sara Martinson picked up her second win of the season and 11th of her career.
STAT OF THE GAME
4 -- The minute Baylor scored its first goal, and four minutes later, scored its second.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Yeah, we talked about that in the locker room before the game -- that we needed to set the tone early [after the lightning delay]. That we needed to continue that for 90 minutes, and I think we did that. I think that we came out early, set the tone, went at them right away and never backed down." -- Head Coach Paul Jobson
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor closes its home opening weekend with a 5 p.m. CT tilt versus Incarnate Word on Sunday.
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