Aug. 28, 2016 Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation With quick goals at the start of each half, the Baylor soccer team cruised to a 3-0 shutout win over the Incarnate Word Cardinals Sunday to complete a perfect home-opening weekend at Betty Lou Mays Field.
Similar to Friday's 5-1 win over Purdue, the Bears (3-1-0) dominated in shots (24-2), shots on goal (11-1) and corner kicks (6-0). But other than their quick-strike goals in the first two minutes of each half, the only score came on a header by freshman Ashley Thornhill when the Cardinals (0-3-0) were a player down because of a red-card ejection.
"Overall on the day, I wasn't totally happy with our efficiency moving the ball forward," head coach Paul Jobson said. "Yes, we got 11 shots on goal, 24 total shots. But three goals out of that is not very efficient. I thought we played great defensively, but I think the transition from defense to offense was a little inefficient on the day and I would like to see us get a little sharper there."
Just 98 seconds into the game, sophomore forward Lauren Piercy headed in a goal off a nice crossing pass from freshman Raegan Padgett from the left wing to give the Bears a quick 1-0 lead. Continuing her torrid start to the season, Piercy scored her fourth goal in as many games and 10th of her career, becoming just the 17th player in program history to reach that plateau.
When IWU starting goalkeeper Sydney Huntsinger had to go off with an injury at the 8:59 mark, it gave Jobson a chance to send a message to his team to "keep the foot on the gas" and not let up.
"We talked about it after the first injury timeout early in the first half and at halftime that we just had to keep the foot on the gas," junior defender Precious Akinyirige said. "We did let up at some points, but I'm proud that we were able to stick with it and be able to finish out the game."
In what looked like a replay of the first half, Akanyirige headed in a ball off a deflection in the box for her first goal of the season and sixth career tally just 1:47 into the second period.
"Sarah King was able to beat her player and get to it first and get the header, and I was just there to finish it up," Akanyirige said. "It was awesome, really exciting. My job was easy, Sarah was the one that got to the ball first. But it's always exciting to score, so I'm happy."
Already down 2-0, Incarnate Word took another blow at the 60:28 mark when defender Annika Field got a red-card ejection, leaving the Cardinals a player down for the last 30 minutes.
Despite that advantage, it took Baylor more than 25 minutes to capitalize. In the 88th minute, sophomore Jackie Crowther had a run from the left wing and crossed to the middle of the box for another header goal by Thornhill.
It was the second career assist for Crowther, who played for the Mexican National Team this summer, while Thornhill recorded her first collegiate goal.
"That's what (Crowther) can do really well. In fact, she could have been on either side of that," Jobson said. "She's great at crossing and she's also great at finishing with her head. So, it was great to see her get on the stat sheet that way. And then for Ashley to step on the field as a freshman . . . and be calm in front of the goal and be able to put that away, that was great."
Sara Martinson picked up her third win of the season and 12th career victory, combining with Rebecca Gartner for the Bears' third shutout.
On the road the next two weekends, Baylor faces Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. Friday and Illinois-Chicago at 1 p.m. Sunday.
"I'm happy for our weekend, but I think moving forward we've got to sharpen up on some pieces so we're not looking back going, `Remember when we were 3-1?' At this time last year, we were 0-4-1. The attitude doesn't change based on what our record is. We've just got to keep moving forward to the next weekend."
THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas -- Baylor soccer grabbed a 3-0 win over Incarnate Word on Sunday evening at Betty Lou Mays Soccer field to complete a 2-0-0 home opening weekend. The Bears (3-1-0) scored within the first two minutes of each half and added a late goal to cruise past the Cardinals (0-3-0).
The first goal for BU came in the second minute on a well-placed cross by Raegan Padgett from the left wing to the middle of the box for a header by Lauren Piercy. The Bears nearly replicated the feat to start the second half. Just two minutes in and in the 47th minute, Precious Akanyirige headed in a ball off a deflection in the box for a 2-0 lead.
Baylor closed the game out on a big note as well. In the 88th minute, Jackie Crowther launched a long cross from the left wing that was headed in the box to the back of the net by Ashley Thornhill.
NOTES
*Baylor is 3-1-0 or better to start a season for the sixth time in the last seven seasons.
*Baylor is 124-48-22 all-time at home and 54-16-11 under the Jobsons at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
*Baylor leads the all-time series against Incarnate Word, 3-0, and won last season's meeting in San Antonio 7-1 on Sept. 6, 2015.
*Baylor is undefeated in 15 of its last 18 matches, dating back to the 2015 season.
*Baylor is 32-2-3 when scoring first since 2013.
*Baylor has 43 shutouts over the last four seasons (two in 2016).
*Baylor led UIW in shots (24-2), shots on goal (11-1) and corner kicks (6-0).
*Sophomore forward Lauren Piercy scored her fourth goal of the season and 10th of her career for her eighth point of the season and 21st career point. She now has three goals scored in her last two games and 10 in 21 career games. She's the 17th player in program history to reach the 10 goal plateau.
*Piercy tallied her third game-winning goal (second in a row) and seventh career game-winning goal to move into a tie for sixth on Baylor's all-time list.
*Freshman forward Raegan Padgett notched her first career assist for her third point.
*Junior defender Precious Akanyirige scored her first goal of the season and sixth of her career for her first two points of the season and 13th career point.
*Freshman forward Ashley Thornhill scored her first career goal for her first two points.
*Sophomore forward Jackie Crowther registered her first assist of the season and second of her career for her first point of the season and eighth of her career.
*Junior goalkeeper Sara Martinson picked up her third win of the season and 12th of her career.
*Sophomore midfielder Sarah King had her second assist of the season and 12th of her career for her fourth point of the season and 18th of her career. She moved into a tie for 10th all-time on Baylor's career assists list.
STAT OF THE GAME
2 -- The amount of minutes it took Baylor to score a goal to begin each half.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We're three and one now and headed into two big road weekends. I think we've set ourselves up pretty well. We scored eight goals this weekend, which was great. We only gave up one, so I'm really happy with that. We had a great night Friday night and tonight was good enough to get the victory, so I'm happy for our weekend. Our attitude doesn't change based on our record, we just have to keep moving forward to the next weekend." -- Head Coach Paul Jobson
WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor hits the road to Illinois for a pair of matches next weekend at Northern Illinois (Sept. 2) and Illinois Chicago (Sept. 4).
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