By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
BETHANY, Okla. – The No. 14 ranked Fort Hays State men’s soccer team defeated Southern Nazarene on Saturday (Sept. 29), 4-2, on the heels of Santiago Agudelo’s second hat-trick of the season. The Tigers improved to 7-2-1 with the win, while the Crimson Storm dipped to 3-7 overall.
Fort Hays State and Southern Nazarene exchanged a couple shots back-and-forth in the early-going before Santiago Agudelo provided the Tigers with the early advantage in the 19th minute of the contest. Agudelo scored his tenth goal of the year in the process.
The Tigers kept their aggressive attack on offense throughout the remainder of the first period with five more open looks until finding the back of the net in the 43rd minute when Zach Wagner picked up his first assist as a Tiger on a pass to Caesar Jones, who scored his second goal of the year to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead heading into the break.
Immediately after the intermission, Agudelo continued his magnificent junior campaign with his 11th goal of the year in the 47th minute.
Southern Nazarene put their offense together in the second half and slipped past the Tiger defense when Angel Lopez received a pass from teammate Cristian Hernandez to cut into the FHSU lead, 3-1, in the 60th minute of the match.
The Crimson Storm made the most of their limited scoring opportunities when they struck the back of the net again as Marcel Joseph was assisted by Angel Lopez in the 78th minute to get them within one, 3-2.
Nearing the end of the match, Agudelo recorded his second hat-trick of the season with his third goal of the contest in the 89th minute to seal the victory for the black and gold. Agudelo tied the FHSU match-record for shots in a single contest (nine), while setting the new benchmark for shots on goal in a match with six on frame.
Fernando Pina earned the victory in goal for the Tigers to improve his record to 3-0-1 on the year. With the win, FHSU moved to 8-1 all-time against the Crimson Storm. Agudelo completed the Tigers 2-0 week with five goals, marking four straight matches scoring a goal.
FHSU will be back in action next weekend when they make it back to Hays to host Upper Iowa on Thursday (Oct. 4). They are slated to resume conference play with a 6 p.m. kickoff against the Peacocks.