Baylor soccer kicks off its 2016 season by facing road matches at Detroit Mercy on Friday at 3 p.m. CT and Michigan State on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Following a split of a pair of home exhibition matches last weekend, the Bears are ready to start regular season play this weekend as they return 22 players from last season and welcome nine newcomers. Both matches will feature live stats on DetroitTitans.com and MSUSpartans.com, respectively, while the UDM match will be available on ESPN3.com. Twitter updates will also be provided on the @BaylorFutbol official account.
MATCH INFO
Fri., Aug. 19 at UDM @ 3 p.m.
Titan Field (3,000)
Stats: www.DetroitTitans.com
Video: www.ESPN3.com
Sun., Aug. 21 at MSU @ 1 p.m.
DeMartin Soccer Complex (2,500)
Stats: www.MSUSpartans.com
Audio/Video: N/A
BAYLOR BEARS
2015 Record: 9-6-4
2015 Big 12 Record: 4-1-2
Head Coach: Paul Jobson
Career: 9-6-4 (2nd season)
BU: 9-6-4 (2nd season)
DETROIT MERCY TITANS
2015 Record: 7-9-2
2015 Horizon Record: 3-5-1
Head Coach: Mike Lupenec
Career: 211-199-35 (24th season)
UDM: 211-199-35 (24th season)
MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS
2015 Record: 8-6-4
2015 Big Ten: 4-5-2
Head Coach: Tom Saxton
Career: 247-201-49 (26th season)
MSU: 247-201-49 (26th season)
BAYLOR QUICK NOTES
-Baylor has had 10 or more wins in nine of its 20 seasons as a program and has done so in four of the last six years under Paul Jobson, who enters his second season as head coach, ninth at Baylor overall. BU has had at least eight wins in seven straight seasons and has won at least one match at the Big 12 Championship eight times in 13 appearances, including four in a row.
-Baylor is 14-5-1 all-time in season openers. Under the Jobsons, BU is 5-2-1 in season openers.
-Sophomore forward Lauren Piercy was Baylor’s lone representative on the 2016 Preseason All-Big 12 Team after being named 2015 Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year, second-team All-Big 12 and making the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
-Sophomore forward Jackie Crowther spent a part of the 2016 summer training with the Mexico U-20 National Team, marking her fourth stint with a Mexican National Team in her soccer career.
-Baylor was chosen fourth in the 2016 Big 12 preseason poll after being chosen eighth and finishing second in 2015.
-BU returns 22 players from the 2015 roster and welcomes nine newcomers for 2016. The Bears also return eight starters while losing three from 2015. Among the returnees are Piercy along with Big 12 All-Freshman Team selections forward Amanda Hoglund, midfielder Julie James and midfielder Sarah King.
-Baylor has already played two exhibition matches as the Bears fell 4-0 in Waco on Aug. 11 to the National Women’s Soccer League’s Houston Dash and won a 3-0 tilt on Aug. 13 in Waco over Houston Baptist.
-Baylor finished the 2015 season going undefeated in 12 of its last 14 matches.
-Baylor has 41 shutouts over the last four seasons (six in 2015).
-Baylor is 29-2-3 when scoring first since 2013.
-Baylor’s second place finish in 2015 Big 12 regular season play tied for the program’s second best Big 12 finish (2012, best was first in 1998) and its four wins in league play were the most since having five in 2012, when BU went on to win the Big 12 Soccer Championship title for the first time ever.
-From May 16-25, Baylor took a team trip overseas to Germany and Austria for three matches against German pro clubs, three training sessions at the best local facilities, stadium tours at Bayern Munich and Red Bull Salzburg, a Bundesliga pro game and sightseeing.
-Baylor led the league and set a program record with four Big 12 All-Freshman Team choices in 2015 -- Amanda Hoglund, Julie James, Sarah King and Lauren Piercy.
-In addition to begin a second-team All-Big 12 and Big 12 All-Freshman Team choice, 2015 Big 12 Co-Freshman of the Year Lauren Piercy gave Baylor its first ever end-of-season individual player honor from the league last season.
- Baylor had 10 or more (10) Academic All-Big 12 selections in 2015 for the ninth straight season (eight first team, two second team).
-Baylor’s 2015 team awards were given to Lauren Piercy (Offensive MVP), Lindsay Burns (Defensive MVP), McKenna Martin and Hadley Young (Hunemuller Award - team’s best players’ player) and Bri Campos (MVP).
-Baylor earned the NSCAA 2014-15 Team Academic Award with a 3.46 team cumulative GPA to garner the honor for the fourth time in the last five years.
