FHSU Women Steamroll Into Postseason on Six-Match Win Streak; Down Washburn 3-1

FHSU Sports Information

Fort Hays State women’s soccer posted its best regular season record in program history with a 3-1 win over Washburn on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 2) at FHSU Soccer Stadium in Hays. The Tigers ran their win streak to six matches and pushed their overall record to 12-4-2. FHSU finished third in the MIAA standings with a mark of 10-2-2.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a winless Ichabod squad early. Just over 18 minutes into the match, Hailey Davey found Kylee Loneker just in front of the net on a crossing pass from the right side. Loneker buried the ball past the goalkeeper to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. Nearly 10 minutes later, Loneker returned the favor along with Cenayda Guzman as their consecutive passes found Davey just in front of the net. Davey beat the keeper to make it 2-0.

Washburn cut the lead in half on a goal by Hadyn Hutchinson in the 40th minute, giving the Tigers just a one-goal cushion at halftime.

Moving downwind in the second half, the Tigers extended the lead back to two on a Kelsey Steffens goal at 50:29. Loneker recorded her second assist of the match as she had the ball on the left side of the box and found a charging Steffens at the top of the box who blasted a shot to the low right corner of the goal.

That would be all the goal scoring as the Tigers limited the Ichabods to just one shot in the second half. After the teams were tied 7-7 in shots at halftime, FHSU was able to get off 18 shots downwind in the second half, outshooting Washburn overall 25-8. Goalkeeper Kristen Thompson recorded two saves in the match and saw her record improve to 12-4-2 on the season.

The Tigers secured the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Tournament with the win. FHSU will host No. 6 seed Missouri Western on Wednesday night (Nov. 5) at 6 pm in Hays. The winner will move on to Olathe, Kan., for the semifinals on Friday and then potentially the finals on Sunday. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 7 in the latest NCAA Central Region rankings and six teams are selected from the region to compete in the NCAA Tournament.