BY CAYDEN SANDERS
PHOTOS BY LAUREN HUYNH
Coming into the final week of regular-season soccer the FHSU men’s soccer team has put themselves in the position to win the league – needing to win their last two games of the season to secure the GAC regular-season crown. For the Tigers that was a tall order, as they needed to play the conference’s 3rd and 4th best team in the same week. However, Fort Hays took care of business against the Riverhawks of Northeastern State on Thursday, winning 2-0.
The Tigers played a complete game of soccer, forcing turnovers, allowing minimal shots on goal and taking advantage when the ball was in the box. Taisei Arima found the back of the net to get the Tigers on the board in the 59th minute. Blake Arndt scored from a controversial ball that was sat on by a Tiger. Arndt found the ball at his feet and scored in the 74th minute of the match.
“Yeah, this is basically a tournament weekend, without it being a tournament weekend. The good thing is, this is our fourth clean sheet in a row, and we scored another two goals. It was good, our offense score two goals, the defense conceded none.” Head Coach Gerry Cleary said.
Entering the week the Tigers were getting national attention for making it into the super region rankings at the 9th seed.
“Everyone in the super region will be good and will be nationally ranked and there will be no easy games for the rest of the season,” Cleary said. “The top 4 teams in the super region will get to host the matches so I hope we work our way up to be able to host.”
The Tigers move to 11-4-2 on the season and have Southern Nazarene for their final regular-season game of the year. The winner of this game will be conference champions and will host the Great American Conference tournament at their home field. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at FHSU soccer stadium.
