By COREY KIRK

ckirk@bakercityherald.com

Baker’s girls soccer team continued its domination over Four Rivers of Ontario on Tuesday, Sept. 7, netting eight goals and shutting out the Falcons.

Baker (2-3) won its second straight match against Four Rivers.

The Bulldogs beat the Falcons 5-1 at Ontario on Sept. 2.

Junior Sydnee Pierce led Baker’s offensive onslaught with four goals, three of those coming in the second half.

Fellow junior Daphne Thomas had a hat trick, all three goals coming after halftime.

“I wasn’t feeling great the first half, so it was kind of nice to come back through the second half,” Thomas said. “Following through definitely helped a lot, if I wouldn’t have followed through, I probably wouldn’t have gotten any goals.”

Baker’s coaches were excited to see the Bulldogs continue to improve after starting the season with three losses.

“One of the key things that was self identified by the girls was because we were able to win, once we were up a little bit, they stopped playing hard,” assistant coach Christine Teegarden said. “One of the goals going into today was to keep playing your game the whole time.”

Baker got on the scoreboard early with goals from Pierce and junior Brooklyn Jaca.

The Bulldogs kept the ball mainly on the Falcons’ side of the field, and Teegarden said she was proud of Baker’s defense.

“Our defensive mids, learning how to drop into cover so that when anybody from the defensive line (is) making a play up (so) that we still have that coverage there, and we were not leaving an empty weak space,” Teegarden said.

One of those midfielders floating around the defense was senior Maya Smith. She said a collective effort kept Four Rivers from getting many shots on goal.

“It was really big, especially considering all the other games that we played where defense has always been every man for themselves, it was really nice to work as a team and not all be winded in forty minutes,” Smith said.

With Baker leading 2-0 at halftime, the coaching staff focused on encouraging the Bulldogs to be more consistent with their passing.

“You need to stick that stitching passes together smartly, and navigating up the field, so we did see some of that today, moments of brilliance, so we know that it’s there,” Teegarden said. “We are honing it in, but they start to leave it behind the moment they feel frantic.”

Baker had no trouble offensively in the second 40 minutes, netting six more goals.

Teegarden said she hopes the Bulldogs are gaining confidence as they prepare for the start of league play on Sept. 21, when they host La Grande.

“Now we have had a couple of wins, so what I want them to take away from that is what we have been practicing,” Teegarden said.

Baker will continue its nonleague schedule by traveling to Fruitland, Idaho, on Sept. 14 for a 4 p.m. PST kickoff.