Wildcats Burst Thru for 5-1 Victory Over Bulldogs

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – The Baker women's soccer team exploded for a five-goal outing to earn its first victory of 2023 with a dominating 5-1 win over McPherson here Wednesday night in Baldwin City, Kan.

Aubree Koren tallied two of the goals for a Wildcats team that scored five straight in the contest with Dakota Cowles, Emme Nichols and Darcy Cato all finding the back of the net as well. The Baker attack peppered the Bulldogs defense all night long, firing off 28 shots in total and earning an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks.

"We worked really hard on our confidence, offensively, this week and we got to see that play out tonight," said head coach Sara Matthews. "It was definitely an all-around team effort and you could really see the team connecting with each other, so we hope to carry that forward to our upcoming matches against some tough opponents."

The Wildcats' first goal of the match came off of a corner kick after Caitlin Youles' ball found a leaping Koren who scored the header to put BU up 1-0 in the 22nd minute.

In the final five minutes of the first half, Baker would notch back-to-back goals just over a minute apart as Cowles was able to collect a second ball off the Wildcats corner and blast one through for the score before Nichols followed with her goal in the 42nd minute on a pinging ball delivered by Youles on a free kick.

With the Wildcats carrying a three-goal lead out of halftime, a second McPherson yellow card led to the man advantage for BU and they were able to quickly capitalize on it with Sadie Dipman-Hayward drawing a penalty in the Bulldogs box a couple minutes later. Taking the PK, Koren easily beat the McPherson keeper to give the senior defender the first brace of the season for BU.

In the 58th minute, Cato caught the Bulldogs backline off guard as she hustled for a ball played forward by Macie Albright and Cato was able to get to it before the keeper and sneak a ball through the side of the box to cap Baker's offensive onslaught.

The Bulldogs broke up the shutout in the 70th minute after their sophomore midfielder Olivia Rodriguez lofted a ball over BU keeper Sophia Holloway that bounced off the crossbar and into the net.

Coming off her conference player of the week honors, Holloway was excellent in goal again for the Wildcats, corralling six saves in the match, including a nice foot save on a Bulldogs breakaway in the 49th minute.

"This non-conference schedule for us is difficult for a reason as we get ready to face a couple more challenging teams," added Matthews. "We've already been tested by a top-15 team along with some other competitive matches, so that really grows our confidence and will prepare us for our tough conference schedule."

Up next, Baker continues its early-season homestand and will host a Sunday matchup with (RV) Hastings on Sept. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at Hartley Field in Baldwin City.

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