Wildcats Suffer 2-0 Setback to MACU

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – A late goal from the Evangels put Baker's non-conference match out of reach as the Wildcats fell to Mid-America Christian by a score of 2-0 here Saturday night in Baldwin City, Kan.

The Evangels netted a goal in the early going to take a quick advantage over the Wildcats before sealing the game in the 83rd minute. Baker battled with MACU for the full 90 minutes, finishing with a 7-2 margin on corner kicks while owning an 8-6 favor in shots at halftime.

"We first have to give credit to MACU, they were a quality side that worked extremely hard and took advantage of opportunities," said head coach Sara Matthews. "We also had good moments and created a number of corner kicks and chances to put one away. It's important to acknowledge that positive side of our play."

With plenty of set piece opportunities, it was Kat Sargent, Sidney Claeys and Bella Wiles who led BU in shots with two apiece while the trio each had one come on-goal as well.

Making her third straight start, freshman keeper Sophia Holloway was impressive between the pipes again for BU, tallying nine saves against a MACU attack that launched 17 shots in the match. The Wildcats kept the Evangels goalkeeper Rachel Torres busy on the night as she ended up with five saves.

Right before the 10-minute mark, MACU was able to score its first goal after a ball played to Jasmine Morales allowed the Evangels forward to slip a shot past a diving Holloway to give the visitors a quick 1-0 lead.

With 15 minutes remaining in the first half, Claeys put up back-to-back shots within a few minutes with her second attempt coming on an open look at the edge of the box that the freshman midfielder couldn't quite connect on and resulted in a Torres save.

The Wildcats came out of halftime with a sense of urgency, earning three corner kicks and recording four shots in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The best look came on a ball sent forward by Katie Baack that deflected off a couple players and ended up at the foot of Darcy Cato whose shot was blocked by a charging Torres.

Just before Cato's action, Baker looked to have the game-tying goal with Sadie Dipman-Hayward slipping behind the MACU backline and beating Torres for the score, but she was ruled offside.

The Evangels tacked on an insurance goal late into the match after their forward Deborah Silveria found the back of the net to secure the road victory for MACU.

"It's up to us to push through and not wait for teams to give us games because that just doesn't happen at the college level," added Matthews. "As a team, we have to hold ourselves accountable in the little moments."

Up next, Baker will take on in-state opponent McPherson in a midweek non-conference matchup on Wednesday, Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. at Hartley Field in Baldwin City.

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