WACO, Texas -- Baylor scored three times in the first 21 minutes to build an early lead en route to defeating Purdue women's soccer 5-1 Friday.
The opening kickoff was delayed about 85 minutes due to lightning and inclement weather. However, the late start didn't slow down the Bears (2-1) in their home opener. They scored in the fourth, eighth and 21st minutes to build a big lead before the midpoint of the first half.
Hannah Leinert scored her 36th collegiate goal and second of the season in the 23rd minute to provide the Boilermakers (1-2) some life. But Baylor opened the second half with a pair of goals in the first seven minutes to put the game away.
Purdue was competitive throughout its 2015 campaign, suffering only two losses by multiple goals and trailing by two goals or more for only 110 of the 1671 minutes of regular-season action. The Boilermakers had not trailed by four goals since an October 2014 loss at No. 25 Rutgers and had not conceded five goals since a 6-1 loss at No. 8 Penn State in September 2013.
Lauren Piercy scored twice for Baylor on Friday, accounting for the game-winning goal in the eighth minute as well as the first goal of the second half only 110 seconds after action resumed. Sarah King had a goal and an assist, opening the scoring in the fourth minute with the earliest goal conceded by Purdue since Ohio State scored in the third minute last year in Columbus. Ariel Leach and Reagan Padgett also scored for the Bears on Friday.
After scoring early in Sunday's overtime loss to Montana, Leinert recorded a goal in consecutive games for the second in her two years as a Boilermaker. Coincidentally, it was Purdue that scored early in last year's home win against Baylor, going up in the third minute. But it remained 1-0 until the final 10 minutes when King and Dagny Olson scored 75 seconds apart.
The Boilermakers return to action Sunday when they host Cincinnati at 1 p.m.