Story by ELI BLANKINSHIP Photos by KYSON EVANS
Tiger Media Network
After tying with CSU-Pueblo in their first match of the season, the Fort Hays State University women’s soccer team looked to bounce back in their match against Rockhurst University on a windy Monday afternoon in the great plains. Rockhurst defeated FHSU, 2-1.
FHSU (0-1-1) faced a challenging first half, playing against winds that gusted up to 25 mph. Rockhurst (1-1-0) took 12 shots in the first half with the wind at their back, putting six of those shots on goal. FHSU goalkeeper Mackenzie Caldwell, the graduate student transfer from UMKC, made five saves in the first half with the wind in her face, but ultimately let one past her on a defensive breakdown from the Tigers.
Going into the second half, the Rockhurst Hawks led the Tigers 1-0. Even with the wind at their back, the Tigers struggled to take shots, with just two shots on goal in the first half and only five shots on goal in the second half.
Less than five minutes into the second half, the Hawks went on a counter attack and put another ball in the back of the net on yet another defensive breakdown from the Tigers making the score 2-0. In total, Rockhurst recorded 18 shots with nine on goal to FHSU’s seven shots with three on goal.
FHSU did find the back of the net in the 66th minute off of an olimpico goal from senior defender Gracen Chaney, who used the wind to her advantage to curl the ball into the back-post side netting off of a corner kick. Chaney’s goal brought the score to 2-1 still in favor of the Hawks.
“It’s something that we always try to do off of corners and set plays,” Chaney said. “We’ve always had success [off of those kinds of plays] especially when using the wind to try and curve it in and get something done.”
For FHSU, playing in the wind will be a common occurrence at FHSU Soccer Stadium; however, it still takes time to get used to, especially for players not from the western plains of Kansas.
“It was really difficult going against the wind in the first half especially [because] Rockhurst had a lot of speed up top,” Chaney said. “We have a lot of new people this year that aren’t from western Kansas and aren’t quite used to that wind, so it’s definitely kind of a culture shock with playing [in high winds] and it takes a lot to get used to.”
Monday’s game was the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Rockhurst now leads the series with a record of 1-0 over FHSU.
“Our next couple games are going to be huge for our RPI which will help us get in the postseason if we don’t end up winning our conference, so making sure we really solidify those and get good wins will be huge,” Chaney said.
FHSU’s next match is at 5 p.m. on Friday in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, against Augustana University.
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