STORY BY TRISTAN SASSE
PHOTOS BY MARISSA CASTANOS
The Fort Hays State men’s soccer team began action on Thursday, August 31 against rival and #3 nationally ranked Rockhurst. The Tigers were ranked #1 in the MIAA preseason poll and were ready for the task at hand.
Many key plays were made on the defensive end throughout. Toward the end of each half, both teams took multiple chances on the attack, but came up empty. Ninety minutes wasn’t enough. The Fort Hays State Tigers and the Rockhurst Hawks went into overtime. Opportunities on the attacking end were seldom and after twenty minutes of extra time there was still no score. The Tigers and Hawks ended in a 0-0 tie.
Rockhurst was the only preseason ranked team on the Tigers schedule. Fort Hays will now have a busy month of September. The Tigers will have five straight games outside of Kansas, including trips to Illinois, Oklahoma, and Washington. FHSU won’t have another home game until September 22, when they open MIAA action against Southwest Baptist University of Bolivar, Missouri.
Sophomore midfielder and reigning MIAA freshmen of the year, Luis Mendez was pleased with the Tigers performance and stated “We can only go up from here. We have high expectations for the team and a really deep squad, and expect to come out as one of the top teams at the end of the season.”
Luis, and the rest of the Tigers have every reason to be excited about the season ahead. After going 14-2-2 a season ago and setting a school record in wins, the Tigers will aim to claim a fourth-straight NCAA Division II Central Region Championship and look to compete for a national title.
