Wildcats Battle Falcons to Scoreless Draw in Indoor Match

WICHITA, Kan. - Playing at the indoor Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kan., the Baker women's soccer team went toe-to-toe with in-state foe Friends and earned a draw after the two clubs ended in a scoreless tie here Wednesday night.

The two teams played evenly throughout the midweek contest with the hosts holding a slight advantage in shots with a 14-12 margin, while Baker finished ahead in corner kicks with four set pieces compared to the Falcons' two.

It was a bit of a slow start for both sides offensively with the first shot of the match coming 13 minutes into it on a dangerous ball towards goal by the Friends attack. BU keeper Sophia Holloway - who would earn her first collegiate clean sheet - was there to collect the first of her seven saves in the game in what would be an action-packed first half for the freshman goalie.

With the offense picking up quickly, Sadie Dipman-Hayward found herself deep in the Falcons box and looked to set up a scoring chance, but her cross would be cleared out to her teammate Sidney Claeys who launched a long-distance shot that almost led to a stick-back opportunity for Baker.

Jorja Martin and Caitlin Youles each sent up a couple shots right before halftime, but the two sides would head to the locker room with the score tied at 0-0. The Wildcats had four of their five first-half shots come on target.

Baker came out of the break and quickly applied the pressure to the Falcons defense, earning three corner kicks within the first 15 minutes.

Friends had its best look of the second half come at the 73:15 mark after forward Keily Larosee sent a rocket towards goal that Holloway was able to punch away to preserve the shutout.

With three minutes left to go, Cato provided Baker with an excellent scoring opportunity of its own as she sent a beautiful cross to teammate Lydia Brinker whose header fell just wide of the goal. Cato finished with a team-high three shots in the contest.

The Wildcats return home for a non-conference match against Mid-America Christian on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. at Hartley Field in Baldwin City, Kan.

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