STORY BY MAKENNA ALLEN
PHOTOS BY ALLISON SCHWEIZER
Thursday, Oct. 4, the FHSU men’s soccer team played at home to defeat the Upper Iowa Peacocks by a score of 3-0. The Tigers finished their 11th game of the season with a victory that allowed them to continue in the season with a record of 8-2-1.
The Tigers’ only score of the first half came during the game’s 30th minute. Santiago Aguduelo scored on an assist by Alonso Rodriguez. This goal marked Aguduelo’s 13th goal of the season.
“Even tonight, when he had a lot of chances, and on most nights he’s going to score three or four goals, he just tilts the field in the other direction. He’s a player that commands so much attention,” said FHSU Head Soccer Coach, Brett Parker. “He’s so big, fast, skilled, strong that it really is a handful for the other team. It opens us up.”
Thanks to Agudeulo’s work as well as the team’s strong defense, the Tigers maintained control of the ball throughout the game with 26 shots on goal to the Peacocks’ 3 attempts.
Aguduelo led the team with most of these attempts with 9 in the first half. With this stat, Aguduelo tied the school record for number of shots in the first half. The forward from Frisco, Texas only added to this figure with 4 shots on goal during the game’s second period.
During this time, Aguduelo surpassed his own record from the Tigers’ past game against Southern Nazarene.
The team’s first conversion to points of these second period shots came with Luis Torres’ goal during the 56th minute of the game. Torres’ 4th goal of the season was off an assist by Moritz Walther and Rogelio Lopez.
The Tigers extended this 2-0 lead to 3-0 in the game’s 63rd minute with Abdoulaye Cisse’s 2nd goal of the season off an assist by Tobias Patino. Patino’s shot rebounded off the goalie who was unable to recover the ball before Cisse reached the center.
Ultimately, the Tigers held their lead of 3-0 in their third shutout of the season.
This game marked the Tigers’ first game at home since being on the road for the past six games. The team is on a five game winning streak with victories against Southwest Baptist, Northeastern State, Oklahoma Baptist, Southern Nazarene, and now, Upper Iowa.
The Tigers will play again at home, Sunday, Oct. 12 against Lindenwood. In preparation for the game against the 5-3-2 Lions, the team will continue to practice as they strive to maintain the momentum of the past five games.
“At this date, we’ve played so well the last couple of weeks that it’s more about maintaining staying hungry and knowing what our goals are ahead of us but continuing to be sharper in the attack and making sure that we continue to play the way we’ve been playing,” said Parker.
