The Baker University women’s soccer team defeated Missouri Valley College 2-0 Tuesday in Marshall, Mo., to take home the HAAC championship.
“It feels awesome to have worked so hard,” senior Jessica Shiney said. “Especially for the seniors, I feel like we deserve it after four years of hard work.”
Tuesday’s win came after a 4-0 victory Saturday against Culver-Stockton College.
Senior Skylar Baker did not play in Saturday’s game due to a red card against Benedictine College Oct. 22, however BU didn’t struggle in its win against Culver-Stockton.
“(Baker sitting out) gave everybody a chance to play,” head coach Nate Houser said. “We’re at that point where we’re deep enough we can manage things when we need to.”
BU took control early when senior Ashley Ukena assisted Baker Orange staff member Jordan Dolbin to score a goal only 26 seconds into the game.
Senior Jessica Shiney assisted freshman Alexa Fryer on a goal 17:16 into the match. Senior Alix Schiraldi netted the Wildcats’ third goal at 28:58, and then assisted freshman Ashley Mauck to a goal with just under six minutes left in the first half.
Despite missing from action Saturday, Baker was back on the field Tuesday against Missouri Valley College.
“Our seniors and our more experienced players really led the way for our freshmen, and I thought (the game) went really well,” Houser said.
BU scored 34 minutes into the first half with a goal from Ukena, assisted by Mauck. With less than four minutes left in the half, Schiraldi assisted freshman Alexa Fryer, sealing the HAAC championship for the Wildcats.
“We went out there and played a really good 90 minutes of the game,” Ukena said.
Baker has an overall record of 11-3-1 and is 5-1-1 in the HAAC.
Because the team is the conference champion, it will get a bye for the first round of the HAAC tournament, and will play its first game of the tournament Thursday. The details of the game were not available at presstime.
The ‘Cats are conference champions, which means all of their tournament games will be played at home.
“It’ll be a huge advantage because this year our crowd has been amazing and really supportive,” Ukena said.
The winner of the conference tournament will go on to play in the NAIA National Tournament.
“We exceeded my personal goals for the season,” Houser said. “They weren’t based on championships, they were based on learning and rebuilding a team, and we did that and a hundred times more. And hopefully we’re prepared to win the games that really matter.”
