Late Goals Complete Come-From-Behind Win for Wildcats in Home Opener

BALDWIN CITY - Playing for the first time on its home pitch in 2024, Baker men's soccer delivered a thrilling comeback for the crowd at Hartley Field with the Wildcats snatching a 2-1 victory from Southwestern Christian here Saturday night in their first game of the Labor Day Classic.

Trailing 1-0 with less than 15 minutes left to play, the Wildcats came through with an exciting late rally with Evans Osei Amankwah knocking in the equalizer in the 79th minute before Reilly Marlow-Jones secured his first game-winner for BU with a goal in the 84th minute to seal Baker's second win of the season.

"We knew it was going to be a 90-minute game, but it was really good to see the guys respond to some adversity," said Baker head coach Nick Aguilar. "To get two goals late shows a really good sign to the team's concentration and character. With so many new guys on the field, it was fantastic to see them have some success and get a big win here in our first night at home."

After going up against two nationally-ranked teams on the road to begin the year, Baker battled with a tough Eagles squad that came into the night without having allowed a goal in 2024 following back-to-back shutouts.

The match featured a tale of two halves with a scoreless first 45 minutes of action that included just a total of four shots, none of which were on goal and only one of them coming from the Wildcats. The script immediately flipped in the second half though with both sides creating scoring chances and having those opportunities pay off with a three-goal period.

SCU took a couple of shots near the midway point of the first half, but had its only real opportunity come in the final minute with a shot that ended up being blocked by the BU defense. The Eagles earned the only corner kick of the opening 45 minutes with a set piece in the 42nd minute.

Out of halftime, the intensity quickly increased though with Osei Amankwah sending back-to-back shots towards the SCU keeper in the first few minutes of play, followed by a corner kick at each end of the field and a header from Javaughn Barrett that was saved by the Eagles defense.

Then, in the 68th minute, Southwestern Christian finally broke through after capitalizing on a costly turnover from the Wildcats in the SCU box with Eagles forward Richard Perez coming away with a steal and quickly firing off a shot to put the visitors in front, 1-0.

BU responded 10 minutes later after an SCU foul in the middle of Baker's attacking third set the Wildcats up with a free kick where Marlow-Jones was able to chip a perfectly-placed ball to the head of Osei Amankwah, who conked in a game-tying header for his first goal of the season.

Just over five minutes later, the two BU forwards linked up again with Osei Amankwah setting up his teammate this time. The freshman from Kumasi, Ghana floated an excellent ball up to Marlow-Jones in the box, who made two defenders miss and blasted in the game-winning goal from just outside the six-yard box to put Baker on top, 2-1 with seven minutes remaining in the match.

In his first season as a Wildcat, Marlow-Jones has tallied a point in all three games with an assist against No. 23 Union, followed by collecting his first goal of 2024 with a penalty at No. 24 Cumberlands before having tonight's game-winner against the Eagles.

Meanwhile, the Baker defense turned in a solid effort as well by holding SCU to just two shots in the second half with newcomer Camden Wiseman making his first start in goal for BU. The Wildcats' backline of Pascal Brose, Falco Dijkhuis, Iwan Roberts and Marco Salgado each played over 80 minutes with Dijkhuis and Roberts playing the full-90.

Baker will close out its Labor Day tournament with a Monday matinee against Morningside set to start at 11 a.m. on Sept. 2 at Hartley Field.

#BakerBuildsChampions