Four-Goal Second Half Dooms Wildcats in Top-25 Showdown at No. 8 William Penn

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - A 1-0 halftime lead turned sour on the Wildcats in their top-25 matchup at No. 8 William Penn yesterday as the Statesmen scored four goals in the second half to knock off BU, 4-2 in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

A scoreless first half was broken up in the final minutes after Ian Waindim scored in the 44th to give BU a 1-0 lead at the break and open the floodgates for a five-goal second half. WPU quickly tied things up after halftime before the Wildcats regained the lead on a goal from Evans Osei Amankwah.

The Statesmen tallied three unanswered goals to complete the comeback with scores in the 55th, 69th and 83rd minutes of their second-half barrage.

WPU launched 16 shots with a dozen of them coming in a second half that saw Baker counter with just two shots. The hosts were the only side to earn a corner kick, marking all three of theirs in the second half.

After a scoreless 43 minutes to start the match, Waindim broke open the scoring with his first goal of the season, giving a WPU defender an excellent deke before launching a left-footed curler to put Baker in front, 1-0.

Just seven minutes into the second half, the Statesmen would tie the game, but BU quickly responded to regain the lead. A deflected shot from Noah Conover landed at the fortunate feet of Osei Amankwah, who was set up right in front of the goal, and the sophomore forward chopped in his third goal of the fall to put BU back on top, 2-1.

The action-packed stretch continued with WPU equalizing in the 55th to tie the match at 2-2. Things settled down before the Statesmen took their first lead of the night in the 69th and then sealed the match with an insurance goal in the 83rd.

The result marks the second straight match the BU defense conceded four goals after allowing more than two just once in their previous six contests.

Additionally, it was Baker's fourth consecutive match against a team ranked or receiving votes in the NAIA's top-25 poll. Six of BU's eight opponents this year have been featured in the rankings with the Wildcats boasting wins over Oklahoma City, who was ranked 16th at the time, and (RV) William Woods.

Baker looks to halt its skid with the first of four straight home matches, starting with a midweek matchup against (RV) Benedictine on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at Hartley Field.

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