BALDWIN CITY, Kansas – For the fifth-straight season, the Baker University men’s soccer program has qualified for the NAIA Men’s Soccer National Championship Opening Round, as they will host Grace College (Ind.) on Saturday, November 18 at 7 p.m. inside Liston Stadium.
The Wildcats finished the 2017 regular season and Heart postseason, 15-4-2, and qualified after becoming Co-Regular Season Champions and Conference Tournament Runner-up.
The Lancers qualified for the NAIA National Championship after upsetting number 21 ranked Spring Arbor in the Crossroads League Conference Tournament Championship, 4-3, in overtime on November 11. They come in with a record of 12-4-4 overall.
This marks Baker’s 10th all-time appearance in the NAIA National Championship, while this is the Lancers first time in the event.
Baker features a team with seven Heart of America Athletic Conference All-Conference award winners, including the Heart Freshman of the Year, Alberto Ciroi.
The ‘Cats have nine shutouts this season and have outscored its opponents, 47-22. Ciroi has only surrendered 14 goals this season and ranks number 14 in the NAIA in goals against average at .780.
Blake Levine continues to rank near the top of the NAIA in assists with 14, as that ranks number four nationally.
Levine and Joseph Houlihan are tied for the team lead in goals with nine and 10 different Wildcats have at least two goals scored this season.
The Grace defense has seven shutouts in 2017 and keeper Kurt Hamlin ranks number 26 in the NAIA in saves with 95.
Offensively, Grace has 36 goals scored, with seven coming from Damon Binkley. Seven different Lancers have scored two or more goals this season.
The winner of Saturday’s game will qualify for the NAIA Men’s Soccer Final site in Delray Beach, Florida.
They will take on either number 12 Columbia or Northwestern Ohio on Monday, November 27 at Seacrest Soccer Complex.
Also in the tournament from the Heart of America Athletic Conference includes number three Missouri Valley and number 13 MNU.
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