El Idrissi’s Brace Leads (RV) Baker to 2-1 Road Win over Spartans

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Behind a two-goal performance from Chafik El Idrissi, (RV) Baker men's soccer picked up a 2-1 win on the road over Missouri Baptist on Wednesday in St. Louis, pushing the Wildcats' unbeaten streak to six consecutive matches.

El Idrissi scored first in the 21st minute to give BU the lead, but the Spartans responded just four minutes later to tie the match at 1-1 where it would sit for nearly an hour of game time. El Idrissi delivered the game-winner in the 82nd minute, scoring on a cross in the box to seal the road win for the Wildcats.

Baker tallied 11 of its 17 total shots in the first half, finishing with a six-shot advantage over the Spartans, who put up seven second-half shots. BU keeper Maxot Arystanov tallied five saves in his 12th start of the season.

The Wildcats earned a couple of corner kicks in the first 10 minutes of action, resulting in a shot on goal from Akira Itadani on the first one, followed by a header from Utah Hester that pushed wide on the second corner. BU finished the match with a 6-4 margin over MBU in corners.

Just over 20 minutes in, Mo Salas lofted a beautiful ball into the box that cleared a leaping Spartans defender and found the head of a perfectly-positioned El Idrissi, who headed home the game-opening goal.

Missouri Baptist quickly drew the match level again, though with a goal in the 25th minute to make it a 1-1 score for most of the rest of the game. BU successfully defended back-to-back MBU corners late in the first half to keep the match tied going into halftime.

After it looked like Baker was headed to a second straight road draw, Salas and El Idrissi teamed up again for the game-winner in the 82nd minute. Salas was able to knife his way through the MBU defense and slot a pass across the front of the goal to a sliding El Idrissi, who was able to get on the end of it for the decisive goal.

A sophomore transfer from Casablanca, Morocco, El Idrissi recorded his first brace of the season and has now scored four goals in his first season at BU. Both of his other goals have come against Heart of America opponents as well, scoring in the matches against Benedictine (Sept. 24) and Culver-Stockton (Oct. 4).

For Salas, it marked his second career match with multiple assists after the four-year senior registered two assists plus a goal in the 2023 season opener against Mission (formerly Baptist Bible).

With the victory, Baker continues to stay hot in an important stretch of the regular season as the conference tournament sits just a few weeks ahead. The Wildcats have won five of their last six matches and have gone unbeaten for almost a month with their last setback coming on the road at William Penn on Sept. 20. Currently, they are fifth in the Heart standings with their five conference wins tying for the most among league teams.

Baker will close out its three-match road swing with a matchup at Graceland on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. in Lamoni, Iowa.

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