Baker Falls in PKs to No. 2 MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart Title Match Heartbreaker

BALDWIN CITY - Baker men's soccer played to a 1-1 draw here Tuesday night in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Championship game, presented by 516 Sports Capital, against No. 2 seed MidAmerica Nazarene before falling in penalty kicks to the Pioneers to finish as tournament runners-up.

MNU outscored the Wildcats, 5-4, in penalty kicks to earn its first conference tournament title since 2011, but BU's now 13-match unbeaten streak remained intact with the match officially going down as a 1-1 tie.

After the Pioneers scored in the game's first seven minutes, Ian Waindim came through with the game-tying header in the final five minutes to send the Heart championship to overtime for the first time since 2015.

The two teams battled through two scoreless overtime periods before moving on to the best-of-five penalty kicks, which also saw extended action after being tied through the first five rounds. MNU's Ferdi Hagen notched what resulted as the title-clinching PK after BU couldn't match on its turn in the sixth round.

Just as it had in the previous two tournament matches, Baker found itself down 1-0 after the Pioneers scored off their very first corner kick of the game with their leading goal scorer, Jeremie Pelade, finding the back of the net on a header in the seventh minute.

The match would stay that way for nearly 80 minutes of game time before Waindim's equalizer late in the second half. The two teams combined for five shots and three corner kicks in a methodical first half following the early goal.

The second half picked up midway through with plenty of back-and-forth from each side. Baker finally broke through late with a cross from Marco Salgado sailing towards the far post, where Waindim soared for the equalizing header. It was the fourth goal of the season for Waindim, surpassing his three goals from last year in his freshman campaign for BU.

Each time tallied a shot in the first overtime with Akira Itadani sending a curler towards goal in the 94th, while MNU put up a shot in the final two minutes.

After a quiet second overtime, the Pioneers controlled penalty kicks right from the start as Itadani's shot sailed high on BU's first attempt of the stage. The two teams traded goals until MNU missed in the fourth round to even things back up before securing the title in the sixth.

With the Heart's automatic bids locked up, both teams will learn their opponent for the NAIA Tournament during Friday's Selection Show, which is set to start at 5 p.m. on YouTube.

Baker will be making the program's 14th national postseason appearance and is coming off a 2024 postseason run that saw the Wildcats earn a spot in the NAIA playoffs for the first time in five years and reach the Round of 16 for the ninth time in program history.

#BakerBuildsChampions