Junior Alix Schiraldi came out of her ankle injury ready to play and scored five goals in two games for the Wildcats Friday and Monday.
Schiraldi led the Wildcats to a 3-0 victory over Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., and a 4-3 win over Hastings College in Baldwin City.
The Wildcats beat Rockhurst with goals from Schiraldi, as well as a goal from senior Jennifer Sampson and assists from senior Christine Janssens.
Baker had a slow start to its game Monday after Hastings scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of play.
“We needed to come out more focused and prepared and not make some mental mistakes,” junior Kylie White said. “We weren’t focused enough starting the game.”
Twenty-five minutes into the match, Schiraldi scored the Wildcats’ first goal, assisted by junior Ashley Ukena.
The Wildcats took advantage of a corner kick, and added another goal, to tie the game 2-2. Jordan Dolbin, Baker Orange staff member, put the ball in front of the net, Sampson took a shot and Janssens knocked the ball into the goal.
Two yellow cards followed the two goals: the first to Dolbin and the second, less than a minute later, to freshman Amber Pickering.
With less than five minutes remaining until halftime, Schiraldi scored again with an assist from Dolbin, putting the Wildcats ahead 3-2 at the half.
Hastings tied the game 3-3 with a little more than 35 minutes of play remaining, causing the Broncos and Wildcats to go into overtime.
After only five minutes of overtime, Schiraldi completed her hat trick by scoring the winning goal, with another assist from Ukena.
Hastings had strong forwards throughout the game and Baker struggled with them for most of the first half.
“We won in spite of ourselves,” head coach Nate Houser said. “We came out on vacation.”
Senior Carly Dickens said everyone on the team contributed to the win, but the team needed to start the game ready to play.
“We fought hard,” Dickens said. “We didn’t come out very strong, we just didn’t give up. We worked well as a team.”
Baker lost to Hastings last fall, making the win that much sweeter.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game, but it feels really good to beat them on our home field,” White said.
The Wildcats will host the Baker Invitational, which continues from Friday to Sept. 18, and play Missouri Baptist University at 3 p.m. Friday at North Park.