Wildcats Earn Playoff Berth, Host UC Merced for NAIA Second Round Match
BALDWIN CITY - For the first time since 2019, Baker men's soccer is headed to the NAIA postseason after securing an at-large bid to the 2024 NAIA Men's Soccer National Championship as the 40-team field was announced on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats will host a second-round matchup against No. 15 UC Merced on Saturday, November 23 at Hartley Field with the game time to be announced.
Baker was one of five teams from the Heart of America to qualify for the tournament with William Penn, Missouri Valley, Clarke and MidAmerica Nazarene all earning a spot as well. A Heart team has won the national championship in four of the past six years with MNU winning it all last year.
BU enters the postseason with a 12-7-1 overall record with four wins over top-25 teams, including a win over No. 23 Union in the season opener that sparked a 5-1 start to the year. The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals of the Heart Conference Tournament for the first time since 2019 after defeating MNU, 2-1 in the quarterfinals.
This will be the 13th postseason appearance for the Baker men's soccer program with the Wildcats boasting a seven-year stretch on qualifying for the tournament from 2013 to 2019. In their last trip in 2019, BU advanced to the final site of the NAIA playoffs with a pair of wins in the opening round over Eastern Oregon and Tennessee Wesleyan before falling in a double overtime heartbreaker to No. 2 Columbia.
Baker's roster features three players who earned All-Heart honors this season with Falco Dijkhuis, Akira Itadani and Reilly Marlow-Jones all being recognized. Marlow-Jones was named Heart Freshman of the Year after ranking top-four in the conference in goals (10), assists (8) and points (28).
As one of the three unbeaten teams left in the NAIA, UC Merced (12-0-3) clinched its eighth straight playoff spot after winning 10 games in the regular season and claiming the California Pacific Conference Championship with a 2-0 victory over La Sierra in the title game.
The Bobcats had eight players receive all-conference honors, including senior forward Daniel Borges who was named Cal Pac Player of the Year after scoring 12 goals and totaling 31 points during the regular season.
The NAIA Second Round match will be streamed on the Heart Conference Network and live stats will be available at BakerWildcats.com.
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