By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
WICHITA, Kan. – Fort Hays State needed four goals on Thursday night (Oct. 14) to get past a winless Newman squad. Antonio De La Torre provided the game winner in the 70th minute to break a 3-3 tie. The Tigers moved to 7-4-1 overall (4-2 GAC), while the Jets fell to 0-10-1 (0-5-1 GAC).
The game got off to a rocky start for the Tigers when they misplayed the ball into their own net in the 4th minute, giving Newman an early 1-0 advantage. The Tigers righted the ship though less than two minutes later when Blake Arndt leveled the match with a 1-on-1 breakaway opportunity against the Newman goalkeeper. Goalkeeper Kieran Brown sent a nice ball over the top which Arndt tracked down for his 1-on-1 opportunity.
The Tigers took their first lead of the night in the 40th minute when De La Torre provided a nice pass from the right side of the box to a cutting Jonathan Facio right in front of the keeper. Facio tapped the well-placed pass in for his first goal of the season. The Tigers led 2-1 at halftime.
The Tigers looked as though they had control of the match when Taisei Arima rifled a shot past the Jet keeper at the top of the box in the 54th minute. The opportunity formed from well-placed passes by Ethan Doud and Arndt. The Tigers led 3-1.
However, Newman would not go quietly. In the 60th minute, the Newman goalkeeper quickly gave his team a counter attack with several Tigers forward on a corner kick opportunity. He found Felix Tellez Ramirez downfield, who then beat Tiger keeper Kieran Brown in a 1-on-1 situation. The goal fueled the Jets and they capitalized on another opportunity in the 64th minute when they received a free kick outside the top of the box. Luke Mills bent the shot into the net off the free kick, knotting the score at 3-3.
The Jets continued to fight, but the Tigers found the answer they needed in the 70th minute when De La Torre joined the scoring act with missile from the right side of the box off passes from Facio and Arndt.
Though the Jets had a few more decent opportunities for an equalizer, the Tigers held off a second comeback surge. FHSU outshot Newman 22-8 in the match. Kieran Brown notched one save, while Newman keeper Juan Carlos Cordova had eight.
The Tigers look to sweep the season series with the Jets on Saturday (Oct. 16) when the teams meet in Hays. Start time is set for 3 pm at FHSU Soccer Stadium