Baker Leads K-State to Win on Sunday
WACO, Texas (Kansas State Athletics) – Kansas State used every second on Sunday afternoon, as Riley Baker scored her second goal of the afternoon on a penalty kick with 18 seconds remaining to help K-State collect its third road win of the season with a 2-1 decision over Baylor at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
K-State snaps a five-match winless stretch and improves to 5-7-2 overall and 1-3-1 in Big 12 action. Baylor drops to 3-7-2 overall and 1-3-0 in league action.
– K-State has won three road matches this season to tie the school record for road wins in a season (2017 and 2021).
– In the final seconds of the match, sophomore Adah Anderson saved a cross from going out of bounds. She then dribbled around a Baylor defender to the touch line before crossing the ball.
– Baylor’s goalkeeper, Lauren Traywick, was unable to collect the loose ball and pulled down senior Kursten von Klahr as she attempted to kick the ball into the open frame, resulting in a K-State penalty kick with 18 seconds remaining.
– Baker took the first penalty kick of her K-State career and finished into the lower left corner to put the Wildcats in front 2-1.
– This was the latest regulation game-winning goal in program history (89:42), as the previous record was held by Anderson (89:09).
– In the first half, Baker entered the game at the 27:21 mark and immediately impacted the match. Freshman Andra Mohler reached the touch line, but found Baker crashing into the 18-yard box.
– The product of Flower Mound, Texas, fired from 17 yards and her line drive shot beat Traywick at the right post.
– Baylor squared the match early in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Hannah Augustyn played a cross to Reneta Vargas, who finished a header from five yards.
– With her four saves on Sunday, junior goalkeeper Alaina Werremeyer set the school record for career saves with 183 in her time with the Wildcats. She passed Miranda Larkin (2016-17) who held the mark with 182.
– Werremeyer was credited with her 10th career win and tied the school record for career wins with Larkin.
QUICK FACTS
– K-State is 7-43-4 all-time against teams from the Big 12 Conference.
– The Wildcats are 1-4-1 all-time against Baylor, including an 1-2-0 mark in matches played in Waco.
– K-State is 5-1-1 this season and 29-10-2 all-time when scoring first.
– The Wildcats are 4-1-0 in 2022 and 18-6-0 all-time when leading at the half.
– K-State scored its first goals since the first half against Colorado State on September 15 (five-plus games).
– These were Baker’s first two goals of the season and the second and third of her career. They were the first Big 12 goals of Baker’s career.
– Baker joins Brookelynn Entz (twice) as the only players in school history to score two goals in a Big 12 match.
– Baker is the second Wildcat with a multi-goal game this season, joining Kyler Goins (vs. Colorado State, Sept. 15, 2022).
– Baker tied the school record for shots on goal in a match and a Big 12 match with five. Her five shots and five on goal were both career-highs.
– Baker’s penalty kick goal was the fifth successful penalty kick in program history. This is the first penalty kick goal scored since Oct. 16, 2020, against Oklahoma. Baker is just the second Wildcat to ever score an penalty kick, joining Entz.
– The assist by Mohler was the first of her career.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Mike Dibbini
On Sunday’s road win…
“I mean it was hot today, so we tried to rotate as much as possible and keep fresh legs. We also wanted to change it up a little bit with different types of forwards to create more chances for us so we rotated our frontline quite often to make them guess what and how to defend us, instead of keeping players in for longer stretches of time.”
On Riley Baker’s performance…
“She had a chip on her shoulder as she played with efficiency today. She got it done for us. If we can get that out of her every single game, she will be a real threat at the top for us. She’s got some soft feet and she makes really good decisions for us and today she made some big decisions for us.”
On the final cross from Adah Anderson…
“We talked about staying on our front foot today. We talked about instead of chasing games chasing goals and at the end of the day assistant coach Matt Smith brought that comment up about chasing goals and not chasing games. And we’re at Baylor and it was an emotional tie to him. The girls responded well.”
On Alaina Werremeyer setting the school record for career saves…
“She’s been amazing and our backbone in the back. She organizes us and keeps us moving in the right direction. She has a lot of experience and a lot of minutes between the pipes. So she’s been tremendous. Congratulations to her, well deserved.”
UP NEXT
K-State returns to Buser Family Park this week to begin the final three-match home stand of the season. The Wildcats host Texas Tech on Thursday, October 13, at 7 p.m. For tickets, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or call 800-221-CATS. Thursday’s match will air on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
