Wildcats Close Out Perfect Labor Day Weekend with 4-1 Victory over Morningside

BALDWIN CITY - Scoring a season-high four goals, Baker men's soccer earned its second straight win of the holiday weekend with a 4-1 victory over Morningside here Monday afternoon in the final game of the Labor Day Classic for BU.

The Wildcats scored two goals in each half with Evans Osei Amankwah logging his second goal of the tournament right before halftime before Akira Itadani and Jim Hendrix each found the back of the net in the second half.

It was an own goal from Morningside that opened up the scoring in the first 15 minutes of play as a soft cross from Itadani ricocheted off the chest of the Mustangs keeper and rolled into the net to give Baker the early 1-0 lead.

With time winding down in the first half, Osei Amankwah was able to score a header off of a BU corner sent in by Iwan Roberts to make it a two-goal advantage for the Wildcats at the half. The freshman midfielder scored in similar fashion in Saturday's match with a game-tying header off of a free kick in Baker's 2-1 win over Southwestern Christian.

Morningside climbed right back into the game quickly out of the intermission with a goal from Niklas Kneller just seven minutes into the restart pulling the Mustangs within a score with nearly a whole half left to go.

The Wildcats would hold things steady from there with the only scare coming in the 61st minute when Kneller had another opportunity, but was denied by BU keeper Christian Villegas, who tallied one of his three saves in the match.

Then, in the 75th minute, Itadani executed a nice give-n-go action with Reilly Marlow-Jones and Itadani was able to slip a shot between the keeper and the post to make it a two-goal lead for Baker again.

Leading by two and playing up a man following a second yellow for Morningside's Jordan Bickel, BU padded its lead with Hendrix's first goal as a Wildcat coming in the final 10 minutes. Isaiah Mesa sent a long ball from beyond the midway line that found Hendrix slipping behind the Mustangs defense and the Dutch forward chipped it over the keeper to cap the 4-1 victory.

Along with Hendrix, it was the first points of the year for Roberts and Mesa who each earned their first assists of 2024. Meanwhile, Marlow-Jones extended his streak with a point in all four matches to start his debut season for Baker as he registered his team-high third assist of the year on Itadani's goal.

With back-to-back wins in its first outings on Hartley Field this year, Baker went undefeated in its Labor Day tournament for the first time since 2021. The four goals marked a season high for the Wildcats after they scored exactly two goals in all three of their previous matches.

Improving to 3-1-0 overall, Baker returns to Hartley Field on Saturday, Sept. 7 to host McPherson for a non-conference match set to begin at 7:30 p.m. in Baldwin City.

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