No. 23 Fort Hays State drew with No. 12 Northeastern State, 1-1, on Friday evening in the NCAA Championships, but advanced with a 3-2 penalty kick advantage in a shootout.
The Tigers (11-5-4) advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championships on Sunday, Nov. 23, where they will face off with No. 5 Quincy at 2 p.m. from DeLoache Field.
Michael Cole got the scoring started for FHSU in the 50th minute, breaking away from the Northeastern State defense before rifling a shot from the upper left corner of the box. Cole’s attempt cleared the keeper and found net, giving FHSU a 1-0 lead.
In the 63rd, however, NSU answered. After a free kick was awarded the RiverHawks, a long cross into the box found Paul Samia, who fired at the net before his shot was deflected by FHSU goalkeeper Kent Freund. The deflection fell into the control of Crosby Lee, who finished on a rebound to the low post.
After 110 minutes of play left the game tied, the teams headed to a shootout where Anthony Hernandez, Maurizio Costa and Diego Cabral hit penalty kicks for the Tigers.
NSU’s first two attempts in the shootout went wide left, and though Tanner Brock‘s first attempt was blocked by goalkeeper Jackson Biles, Hernandez’s attempt was good – giving FHSU a 1-0 advantage. The RiverHawks tied the shootout in the next round, 1-1, after Jordan Schmoker hit on his attempt (and Biles again came up with a save on Mauricio Castorino‘s turn) before grabbing a 2-1 advantage on Juan Peralta’s goal.
Costa answered Peralta with a make of his own, setting up the fifth round of PK’s, tied 2-2. Kent Freund made his mark in the shootout on Ricardo Palomino’s shot, diving to his left to stop Palomino’s shot and giving FHSU a chance to clinch – which Cabral did, putting it past the keeper for the 3-2 shootout victory.
Freund had four saves on the day, playing all 120 minutes while helping the Tigers advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.
Cole and Castorino led the team with two shots for the day, as Cole had FHSU’s only shot on goal.
Fort Hays State and Northeastern State remained even in the series history, moving the overall record to 3-3-5 in 11 matches between the teams in the last four years.
Quincy reached the Elite Eight with a 3-0 victory over Saginaw Valley State in the first game of Friday’s action.