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By CAYDEN SANDERS
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State University men’s soccer team competed at home this weekend against Ouachita Baptist and Harding. Entering the weekend the Tigers were third in the Great American Conference; however, a pair of wins over the Arkansas foes helped push FHSU into second place.
On Thursday Night the Tigers hosted Ouachita Baptist. In the match where both team’s mascots were the Tigers, Fort Hays State prevailed, winning 6-0.
“We pressed them well, and we started the game well,” FHSU Head Coach Gerry Cleary said. “We took care of opportunities, and when you have 35 shots on goal, you are going to find the net.”
Fort Hays State (6-6-2, 5-2-2) used the success of duo Blake Arndt and Elias Ovelar Semeniuk in the match. The pair earned five goals and two assists, one to each other, with Arndt managing a hat-trick – scoring early with goals in the 12th, 14th, and 24th minute of the match.
Semeniuk capitalized on opportunities to score in the 5th, and 18th minutes of the match.
Agustin Ayala also scored in the 63rd minute, pushing the Tigers to a 6-0 victory.
Fort Hays then had a short turnaround from Thursday night to Saturday morning.
“We will have to recover, and get ready for another match. I think we played a lot of guys tonight, and we played the whole squad to try and keep them rested for Harding,” Cleary said.
In an earlier-than-normal 11:00 kickoff, FHSU knocked off Harding 4-1 to complete the weekend sweep.
In the match, Fort Hays saw four goals by three Tigers. Tadhg Walsh started the scoring in the 25th minute.
From there Semeniuk scored the next two goals in the 60th and 62nd minutes of the match. Then Pablo Orozco scored three minutes later. Harding did score in the 82nd minute of the match by Ignacio Arsuaga.
FHSU’s Semeniuk had one of the best weekends of his career thus far, scoring four goals to go along with one assist. In Semeniuk’s eyes, he is grateful to be a part of FHSU.
“I am happy,” he said. “I am far away from my home, my family but I have found a new family here and it’s my teammates.”
For many foreign-born players that come to the United States, it can be a tough adjustment. Semeniuk, from Asuncion, Paraguay said while it is different in many aspects, he is making the adjustment since coming to America.
“It is different, the culture, the way soccer is played. But I am getting used to it and I love it here,” he said.
FHSU is four points behind league leader Southern Nazarene and needs to win one of its final three games of the season, or have Newman lose one match, to clinch a postseason berth. The Tigers next play Northeastern State at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at FHSU Soccer Stadium.