Women’s Soccer Comes Up Short in Road Tilt at Grand View, 3-1

DES MOINES, Iowa – A second-half rally fell short for Baker women's soccer as the Wildcats dropped their conference road match at Grand View, 3-1 on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Trailing 2-0, Aubree Koren's goal in the 65th minute brought life to a Baker side that came into today's match with a Heart victory already under its belt this week after defeating Park, 2-0 on Wednesday. However, the Vikings were able to keep BU out of the net the rest of the way and added a late PK to seal their win.

The Wildcats finished with a slight advantage in shots with Baker carrying a 13-12 margin, while the hosts held a 7-3 favor in corner kicks. Koren and Bella Wiles led the BU attack with three shots apiece with all three of Koren's landing on target. Forward Emma Schieber and defender Macie Albright each had two shots in the game.

After a quiet start to the first half, the Vikings broke to the scoreboard first with a goal in the 27th minute on an unfortunate play for the BU defense where a deflected ball on the edge of the box spun right to an open GVU player, who knocked in the game-opening goal.

Right before halftime, Grand View made it a two-point ballgame after scoring off a free kick in the 43rd minute. The Vikings free kick connected with the head of their freshman midfielder Anna Eide, who found the back of the net to give GVU a 2-0 lead at the break.

In the second half, it was a corner kick that led to Baker's goal with Caitlin Youles sending a ball in that Koren was able to get a touch on and the ball was able to slip through the Vikings defense and into the net to cut BU's deficit to 2-1.

The Wildcats continued to put the pressure on the Grand View defense after creating a few more scoring chances midway through the second half. Wiles had an open look at the top of the box sail high on her, while Youles took a chance on a long-distance free kick.

A penalty kick in the last two minutes of action delivered the final blow to the Wildcats as the Vikings capped off their 3-1 victory.

For Koren, it marked her second straight game with a goal after the senior from Kansas City, Mo. scored a goal against Park on Wednesday. Koren leads the Wildcats with four goals in 2023.

Up next, the Wildcats host their home finale with a matchup against Graceland on Oct. 21 at 5 p.m. at Hartley Field in Baldwin City.

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