Baughman threatens school record

There was a span of about 15 seconds during Tuesday's Washington-Iowa City Liberty soccer match when Demon goalkeeper Benjamin Baughman's heart rate went from normal to 300 beats a minute.

During those 15 seconds, Baughman withstood a barrage of shots from the Lightning, knocking away at least five blasts.

'I'm not even sure how I got those five saves,” Baughman said. 'It was really exciting. I'm just amazed at myself that I was able to do it. I don't know how I got them all.”

During the game, he made 27 saves, the most since Matt Grote had 31 saves in an overtime game in 2012.

'In regulation time, I believe Ben Baughman set the record tonight,” Washington coach Sally Hart said. 'He beat his brother's (Jacob Baughman) record of 26 against Mid-Prairie in 2014 and Thomas Zimmer's 26 in 2016 versus Keokuk.”

'It feels great if I have the school record,” Baughman said. 'I never thought I would have the possibility of that. Twenty-seven saves in a game, wow, I didn't think was possible.”

Liberty did score in the game, racking up five goals that were all in the first half.

Caleb Suchan scored for Washington on a penalty kick with 31 minutes, 18 seconds left in the match for the 5-1 final score.

'Early on we let them score on some corner kicks,” Hart said. 'Those are always hard to defend as a goalie. We are definitely going to work on that in practice. We also have to execute set pieces well when we are on offense.”

Winning the second half was a moral victory for the Demons, having suffered an 8-0 defeat to Liberty in the second contest of the season.

'To not let them score at all in the second half, I think, shows something about our team,” Hart said. 'They put their hearts into that second half, that's for sure. We are seeing improvement and it is a great time in the season for that.”

Liberty coach Ben Watson saw a difference in the Demons from the first match in Iowa City.

'I think we didn't play as well and I think that was because they have improved a little,” he said. 'We struggled to move the ball, especially in the second half.”

The Demons had to adjust to a lot of new players this season.

'Now we have enough games that we are getting into the groove of things,” Hart said. 'We are communicating better.”

The communication starts with the goalkeeper.

'We have definitely improved our communication skills,” Baughman said. 'We have to continue to make solid passes and know where everyone is when we pass. I have the best vantage point of anyone on the field so I need to be communicating who is open and where our vulnerable areas are. There were several times during the game where I was screaming, ‘get the ball out of here.'”

His defense surely screamed ‘thank you' after the game.

'Ben was just awesome,” Hart said. 'There was that 15 seconds there where he got five of his 27 saves. I just could not believe it. It was like a ping pong game or a pinball machine. He just kept blocking shots and he was eventually able to block one up and out, so that we could reset. He never lost sight of the ball. He never lost his cool. He did great.”

Liberty's record is 3-3.

Washington is 2-4 and plays at Southeast Conference foe Ft. Madison Thursday.

'It seems like we are evenly matched so we will see how it goes,” Hart said. ‘You never know how things will go and it will be at their house. I think if we play the way we played in the second half we will get the win.”