By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
BETHANY, Okla. – The 24th-ranked Fort Hays State men’s soccer team defeated Southern Nazarene 3-1 on Thursday (Sep. 29). The Tigers took a 3-0 lead early in the first half and the defense worked to hold off the Crimson Storm to secure the crucial conference victory. FHSU improves to 6-2-3 (4-0-1 GAC/MIAA) and SNU falls to 3-4-3 (1-1-2 GAC/MIAA).
The first score for the Tigers came on a corner kick by Inigo Jimenez as the ball soared through the air and fell perfectly in front of Callum Frogson who headed it past the keeper in the 14th minute. Shortly after the ensuing kickoff, FHSU found themselves on the attack again as Sean Thomson found Tadhg Walsh who sent a long pass towards the far post to be headed in by Jackson Elgas. The two goals found the back of the net just 18 seconds apart, the fastest pair of consecutive goals in program history. FHSU capped off the first half scoring 10 minutes later as the defense worked the ball back to Kieran Brown, who launched the ball near the SNU box finding Ethan Doud. Doud proceeded to find open space and fired the ball into the net.
In the second half, SNU managed to chip away at the FHSU lead as a chain of passes made its way to Shun Kushima who bent the ball past Brown in the 60th minute. The Crimson Storm were unable to net another score as the Tigers remained unbeaten in GAC/MIAA play.
SNU finished with 21 shots and placed five on target while FHSU ended with eight shots and placed four of them on goal. Brown secured four saves between the posts for the Tigers while Bence Moscari posted one for the Crimson Storm. The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday (Oct. 1) as they host Northeastern State with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.