By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
The Fort Hays State men’s soccer team routed Newman 5-1 in Hays on Saturday (Oct. 18). The Tigers put up three scores before halftime and followed with two more in the second while only allowing one goal at the end of the match. Sophomore midfielder Taisei Arima netted two goals in the match, his second multi-goal performance this season. The Tigers sweep of the Jets this week improved their record to 8-4-1 overall and 5-2 in the GAC while Newman remains winless at 0-11-1 and 0-6-1 in conference action.
The first of the three first-half goals came from senior defender Alec Bevis when he received a corner kick from Nicolas Cortes and headed it past the keeper from the left side of the box for his first of the season. The Tigers wasted no time as Viktor Robertsson found the net less than five minutes later having the ball drop in his lap right outside the middle of the box. As time ticked down in the first half, Arima found himself wide open in front of the box after receiving a nice pass from Ivan Villalba and put the ball through for his fourth goal of the season. The Tigers went into the locker room boasting a 3-0 lead, with the defense managing to hold Newman to zero shot attempts in the first half.
Less than eight minutes into the second half, Arima netted his second goal which he dribbled himself from about midfield all the way to the left side of the box and struck the ball sending it past the keeper for his fifth goal of the season. The Tigers were not done yet as Jonathan Facio maneuvered between two Newman defenders inside the right side of the box after receiving an over-the-shoulder pass from Michael Samuel, giving the Tigers a 5-0 lead with about 17 minutes left in the match. The Tiger defense managed to hold Newman to three total shots in the match, including their goal in the 88th minute as the Jets were able to sneak a shot by Ben Dixon at the bottom right of the net. The Tigers finished with 26 shots putting 14 on target. Kieran Brown and Dixon did not make any saves while the Jets keeper made nine including seven in the first half. The Tigers will have a short week next week as they play only one match against the Hillcats of Rogers State at home on Thursday October 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.