Despite changes being made to its starting lineup, the Baker University men’s soccer team was able to pick up its first Heart of America Athletic Conference win of the season with a 3–1 road victory over Avila University Saturday.

While head coach Nate Houser had no comment as to why the changes were made, he was proud of the team’s ability to adjust during the game.

“I told them before the game there’s chances and minutes to be won,” Houser said. “I want them to be positive and aggressive about this.”

Senior Sean McAlister, who usually plays in the midfield, played goalkeeper for the first time of his career at Baker. McAlister said he was proud of his team for adjusting to the postion change.

“Going into the game we had our doubts about me playing in goal, but we were able to pressure (Avila) and push forward with numbers,” McAlister said.

After senior Donny George scored the first goal in the 40th minute, the Wildcats were able to shake their doubts off.

“Once we scored, it was like a wipe off our foreheads,” McAlister said. “It made going into the second half much easier.”

After winning the ball off an Avila corner kick, Baker was able to counter attack with speed to score its second goal of the game in the 78th minute. Junior Cameron Zimmerman initially cleared the ball out and sent it into the Eagles’ territory to senior Laeth Hamil. Hamil then played the ball into the box, where senior Richard Klein took over and sent it flying past goalkeeper Jesus Revilla.

Two minutes later, Klein was able to get his foot on the ball again and made another shot for the Wildcats, putting the team up 3-0.

Baker was seconds away from winning its first shutout of the season when Avila’s Ben Dlugolecki ruined its chances as his shot beat McAlister into the back of the net.

“A shutout is elusive for us this season,” senior Nick Aguilar said. “Consistency is one ingredient we’ve been missing, but I feel we stayed very disciplined and committed today and that we were able to meet our goals for the game.”

Baker will face its rival, No. 7 MidAmerica Nazarene University, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Liston Stadium. Aguilar knows it will be tough competition, but he has faith in his team’s chances.

“We’ll need to attack with passion and energy. If we can put in the work and everyone can commit, I think we will do really well,” Aguilar said.

Houser also thinks the game against MNU will be a battle.

“I think it’s going to be emotional, they are a very good team,” Houser said. “But I think we are a team that could be problematic for them. I think it will be a really good test for us to finally get a result that we have to fight for, that we need.”