Wildcats Earn Second Straight Road Win with 1-0 Victory at Ottawa

OTTAWA, Kan. - Continuing its non-conference slate, the Baker women's soccer team took down Ottawa, 1-0 on Friday to come away with three points for the second straight road match and move to 2-2 on the season.

Emma Schieber's goal in the 11th minute was the only scoring in a thrilling slugfest between the two non-conference foes that featured keeper Avery Young and the rest of the BU defense pitching their first shutout of the season.

"I'm very happy for the girls, they earned a hard-fought win tonight," said BU head coach Sara Matthews. "Ottawa worked very hard on their home turf and we had to rise up to the challenge. Emma came up with a goal and, on the other side of the field, Avery had a huge game for us, especially with the PK save."

Despite the one goal, it was a high-flying affair that included a combined 32 shots with Baker leading the barrage with 18 shots in the game. Schieber and Darcy Cato kept the OU goalie active with a team-high six shots apiece.

With Ottawa playing its first game of the season, the Wildcats didn't take long to spoil the hosts' season opener with Schieber's game-winner coming just under the 12-minute mark. Following a throw-in on the far side, Schieber put together a few nice moves to create a lane and smashed a 20-yard screamer from the edge of the box to give Baker the early advantage.

Both sides would send their fair share of shots throughout the rest of the first half with the Braves outshooting BU, 8-6 in the first 45 minutes of play.

With Baker holding onto its 1-0 lead, Ottawa looked to tie things up before halftime after earning a penalty in the 40th minute, but Young came through with a magnificent save to keep the Braves off the board.

In the second half, the Wildcats came right out in search of an insurance goal and peppered the OU defense with six shots in the first 10 minutes of the restart.

The Braves continued to test Young for most of the second half as well with the freshman goalie from Spring Hill, Kan. collecting five of her eight saves in the final frame.

After an OU red card in the 84th minute, Young registered a couple more saves to preserve the 1-0 shutout and give the Wildcats their second straight win over the Braves.

"Both teams had their chances tonight and it wasn't the prettiest of games," added Matthews. "But when you earn a win with hard work and grit, it feels really good. The girls did just that tonight and we're very proud of them!"

Schieber, who was the Heart Offensive Player of the Year this past week, tallied her fourth goal of the year after recording a hat trick in BU's 7-2 win at McPherson last week.

With both of their wins coming on the road, the Wildcats will play their fourth match away from Baldwin City this season with a matchup next week at Mid-America Christian on Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. in Oklahoma City, Okla.

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