Wildcats Knock Off No. 23 Mount Mercy, Secure Spot in Heart Tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Damian Bair scored the game-winning goal in the 70th minute to send the Wildcats to this year's Heart Tournament as Baker men's soccer took down No. 23 Mount Mercy, 1-0 in the final game of the 2023 regular season on Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

After going unbeaten in their first four conference matches, the Wildcats finished with a 5-5-1 record against league opponents, while going 9-6-3 overall, and will be the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament where they will face Missouri Valley in the quarterfinals.

Baker was outshot in the match by the Mustangs, 10-8 with seven of those coming in the second half for BU. Gyorgy Kamaras marked a game-high five shots on the day, while Bair, Mason Anderson and Axxel Chazaro-Lara each had a shot on goal.

Michael Stӧger made his 17th start of the season and collected a total of five saves in the contest, while blanking the Mustangs for his fourth solo clean sheet of the fall.

Mount Mercy was the one to get off to a nice start to begin the match, earning the first of its nine corner kicks in the game with just under three minutes ticked off the clock.

Stӧger registered three of his saves in the first half, while the Wildcats earned a team save in the 30th minute to turn back an energetic MMU attack.

The Wildcats didn't notch their first shot of the game until the closing seconds of the opening half with Chazaro-Lara nearly putting in a buzzer-beater after firing off a one-touch shot on a pass by Kamaras, but the charging Mustangs keeper was there to block the attempt as the teams went into halftime in a scoreless tie.

Just over seven minutes into the second half, Baker would get another scoring chance with Kamaras popping up a long, floating cross that found the head of Anderson, but the junior forward's header went right to the arms of the MMU goalie.

Falco Dijkhuis sparked the action that led to Baker's goal with the Dutch defender winning a ball in the midfield and using a head of steam to cut right through the Mustangs defense before laying a ball out to Hunter French. French immediately skipped a perfectly-placed pass to Bair who knocked in the game-winner to give BU a 1-0 lead midway through the second half.

The Wildcats had an opportunity to go up by another goal in the 80th minute after a collision in the box resulted in a penalty kick for BU, but Kamaras ensuing shot was saved by the diving Mustangs keeper.

Kamaras earned another penalty a few minutes later, but again was denied a goal as this time his PK ricocheted off the crossbar to keep it a one-score lead for BU. Kamaras came into the match a perfect 7-for-7 on PKs this season.

Baker repelled a late rally by the Mustangs after clearing out a couple of corner kicks and preserving the 1-0 victory for the Wildcats.

Playing in his first match since missing most of the season due to injury, Bair, a freshman from Hamburg, Germany, delivered an unforgettable welcome-back moment with his first goal of the year. It was the first assist of the fall for French, who has totaled 15 points and seven goals in his senior campaign.

The eighth-seeded Wildcats and top-seeded Vikings will duke it out in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Heart Men's Soccer Conference Tournament, Presented by WinWon Technologies on Friday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in Marshall, Mo.

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