By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
The No. 10 ranked Fort Hays State men’s soccer team used two goals in the final five minutes to defeat the University of Mary in the Tigers’ regular season finale on Saturday (Nov. 3), 2-0. The Tigers completed the regular season with a 15-2-1 overall record and an 8-0 conference record, while the Marauders ended their season 4-9-1.
In the second matchup of the season pitting these two squads that started with FHSU blowing out Mary 7-0, ended with a much different outcome the second time around.
The first period featured defensive battle from both the Tigers and Marauders. The Tigers held the 13-1 edge in shots taken, however, neither team could break the threshold of the goal. Both teams went into the locker rooms scoreless.
For much of the second half, it was a carbon copy of the first 45 minutes. At the 85:00 mark, Mauricio Etcheverry pushed ahead the ball to Abdoulaye Cisse, who then fed the ball to Alonso Rodriguez in the box. Rodriguez headed the ball into the back of the net, beating goalkeeper Lukas Billhardt to his right and the Tigers held the 1-0 advantage late in the match.
FHSU was not done, however, when Arsenio Chamorro fired a shot towards the goal that was deflected by Billhardt, then Abdoulaye Cisse took advantage and shot the ball and beat the keeper to increase the Tiger lead to 2-0 in the 87th minute of the contest. The 2-0 score would prove to be the final.
Tiger keeper Fernando Pina picked up the victory in goal for FHSU, improving his overall record to 9-0-1. Rodriguez and Cisse scored their fourth goals and Cisse picked up his sixth assist on the season, while Etcheverry grabbed his third assist and Chamorro picked up his second assist on the year. Santiago Agudelo led the Tiger offense with five shots.
The Tigers will find out their postseason fate on Monday when the NCAA Selection Show takes place to let the teams know where and when they will play.