Sept. 18, 2016

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

In 45 previous games, including 16 at Baylor, senior forward Marissa Sullivan had not scored a goal in her collegiate career and had just three shots on goal.

But that changed in a big way Sunday, when she blasted in a pair of second-half goals in the Bears' 7-0 win over Jackson State in a Senior Day to remember at Betty Lou Mays Field.

"It wasn't just me, everyone came out to play today," Sullivan said. "It was just the energy from my teammates that got me going in the second half. I had a rough first half, but they picked me up and that's how I got those two goals. . . . I was really just demanding the ball, doing what the coaches tell me to. And I was trying to be confident to put them in."

Junior transfer Aline De Lima also notched her first two goals at Baylor, both in the first 11 minutes of the second half. But the native Brazilian had scored 33 goals in 34 games in previous stops at Northwest and Monroe College.

"I think everybody gets excited when girls that work so hard day-in and day-out are able to score goals," said Baylor coach Paul Jobson, whose team improved to 7-3-0 overall and 4-0-0 at home. "But those are two good players right there that are working their way in and getting time. That's a good experience for them, and I'm excited about the way they were able to put them away."

Sullivan and four other seniors were honored in a postgame ceremony, but it was a quartet of sophomores that contributed to two of Baylor's three first-half goals.

The game was barely five minutes old when Lauren Piercy had a tap-in goal off a Julie James cross from the left wing. Piercy matched her rookie season total with her sixth goal of the season and recorded her national-best fifth game-winning goal.

Jobson said the starters set the tone "right at the very beginning."

"That's what we try to do every match," he said, "and this match was no different. That first group really set the tone early and they allowed the other girls to come on. The challenge to them was to continue the tone and don't let down. And I think we did a good job of that."

Piercy also got her second assist of the season and third of her career, redirecting senior Ashley York's corner kick for a tap-in by senior defender Lindsay Burns that made it 2-0 just 8:54 into the game.

Closing out the first-half scoring, Amanda Hoglund took a pass from the left wing from fellow sophomore Jackie Crowther and snuck a shot through the goalkeeper's legs in the 24th minute for her second goal of the season and fifth career goal.

Totally dominating the Lady Tigers (0-6-0), Baylor had commanding leads in shots (17-0), shots on goal (9-0) and corner kicks (8-0) through the first 45 minutes.

And the Bears were just getting going.

De Lima took a pass from sophomore midfielder Kennedy Brown and hit a laser shot to the top right corner less than two minutes into the second half. And she was back at it less than nine minutes later when she headed in a goal off a cross from Ariel Leach.

Sullivan got in the act when she took a header from Delanie Davis and beat the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation with a shot to the left side of the net. Crowther picked up her second assist of the night in the 73rd minute when she found Sullivan, who turned and blasted a rocket from 15 yards to the back of the net.

Just a few minutes later, Sullivan passed up a shot at a possible hat trick, when she "looked up and saw Halee (Sowinski) at the last minute, and I tried to slide it through. But it is what it is, I guess."

After scoring just two goals combined in their previous four games, the Bears had nine in three days. They defeated Washington, 2-0, Friday night and added a season-high seven in the win over Jackson State.

"One of the things that I challenged the team with before the game . . . was we have to do what we do, it doesn't matter who the opponent is," Jobson said. "And we can't get caught up in the emotion of Senior Day, we have to go to work and do what we do. . . . This was a great game for us, the way things worked out as far as getting experience and getting players rest. I was really proud of how things worked out."

Baylor out-shot Jackson State, 26-1, with sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Gartner picking up her second win and first career shutout.

The Bears open league play with a home matchup against Texas (6-3-0) at 6 p.m. Friday that will be televised by FOX Sports Plus.

"I told them they've got two hours to enjoy this," Jobson said. "I gave them one and they negotiated two (hours), to kind of enjoy this experience. But, we've got to focus, because we've got a big game coming up on Friday."

BU received its first goal in the sixth minute as Julie James' cross from the left wing found Lauren Piercy for a tap-in in front of the net. Then in the ninth minute, a corner kick by Ashley York was redirected by Piercy to Lindsay Burns for another tap-in in front of the net. To close out the scoring in the first half, Jackie Crowther made a pass in the box from the left wing to Amanda Hoglund, who deftly snuck a nutmeg shot to the back of the net in the 24th minute.

Baylor added four more goals in the second half. In the 47th minute, Kennedy Brown's pass to Aline De Lima led to a laser shot to the top right corner for a goal. In the 56th minute, a cross by Ariel Leach was headed in by De Lima. In the 59th minute, Delanie Davis headed a ball to Marissa Sullivan for a head-on shot with the keeper that went in the left side of the net. In the 73rd minute, Crowther found Sullivan in the box for a 15-yard rocket to the back of the net.

NOTES
*Baylor has won seven or more of its first 10 matches for the fifth time in the last seven seasons (2016, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010).

*Baylor scored its most goals in a game since an 8-0 win vs. UTSA on Sept. 13, 2015 in Waco.

*Baylor is 126-48-22 all-time at home, 56-16-11 under the Jobsons at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field and 4-0-0 in 2016.

*Baylor leads the all-time series over Jackson State, 2-0-0, and won the first meeting 5-0 in Waco on Oct. 16, 2011.

*Baylor is undefeated in 19 of its last 24 matches, dating back to the 2015 season.

*Baylor has 47 shutouts over the last four seasons (six in 2016).

*Baylor is 36-2-3 when scoring first since 2013.

*Baylor led Jackson State in shots (26-1), shots on goal (16-1) and corner kicks (10-0).

*Sophomore midfielder Lauren Piercy scored her career-high-tying sixth goal of the season and 12th of her career for her 13th point of the season and 26th of her career. She now has six goals in 10 games this season and 12 in 27 career games.

*Piercy's game-winning goal was her fifth this season and ninth of her career. She now ranks tied for fourth on BU's single-season game-winners list and tied for fifth on BU's career game-winners list.

*Piercy picked up her career-high second assist of the season and third of her career for her 14th point of the season and 27th career point.

*Sophomore midfielder Julie James notched her career-high second assist of the season and third of her career for her fourth point of the season and 13th of her career.

*Senior defender Lindsay Burns scored her second goal of the season and fourth of her career for her fourth point of the season and 11th of her career.

*Senior midfielder Ashley York picked up her career-high third assist of the season and seventh of her career for her third point of the season and 31st of her career.

*Sophomore forward Jackie Crowther gathered a career-high two assists for her career-high third this season and fourth of her career for her third point of the season and 10th of her career.

*Sophomore forward Amanda Hoglund scored her second goal of the season and fifth of her career for her fourth point on the season and 12th of her career.

*Sophomore midfielder Kennedy Brown registered her first career assist for her first career point.

*Junior midfielder Aline De Lima scored the first two goals of her Baylor career for her fourth point.

*Sophomore forward Ariel Leach had her first career assist for her third point of the season and of her career.

*Junior midfielder Delanie Davis had her first assist of the season and second of her career for her first point of the season and second of her career.

*Senior forward Marissa Sullivan scored the first two goals of her career for her fourth point of the season and sixth of her career.

*Sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Gartner earned her first win of the season and second of her career while picking up her first career shutout. She made her second start of the season and sixth of her career.

STAT OF THE GAME
3 -- The amount of goals by Baylor's seniors on Senior Day in the game -- two by Marissa Sullivan and one by Lindsay Burns.

QUOTE OF THE GAME
"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. 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." -- Head Coach Paul Jobson

WHAT'S NEXT
Baylor finishes its three-match home stand with a 6 p.m. CT game vs. Texas next Friday at Betty Lou Mays Field.