FHSU women’s soccer hits bye week after challenging home slate

Story by CAYDEN SANDERS Photos by KATIE KUHLMAN, BRADY KAISER, and PARKER NISBETH

Tiger Media Network

The Fort Hays State University women’s soccer team played a tough weekend schedule against two top teams in the MIAA. The Tigers hosted Northwest Missouri State on Friday – who sits fourth in the league standings – and No. 20 Missouri Western State on Sunday – who leads the MIAA.

Fort Hays State lost to the Bearcats 2-1, and forced a 0-0 tie with the Griffons.

“For us, the loss does not matter if it is close or not does not matter because we might not have to worry about goal differential later in the season,” FHSU Head Coach Tyson John said. “So for us, today (Sunday) coming out tied to a team that had their first blemish on the season. And the way I look at it is not a loss for us. They sit number one in the conference, they are undefeated and top 20 in the country.”

After Allison Worley scored the first goal of the game she celebrated with her team.
Kintzli Wagner moves the ball down the field to create a play.
Britney Arneson and Kintzli Wagner protect and move the ball towards their goal.
Sullivan Kelly starts off the play by making a long pass down the field.
Britney Arneson blocks off her defender in attempt to pass the ball.
Taylor Hill kicks to ball down field in order to score.
Allison Worley works around her defender to make the pass.
Berkley Sparks fights for the ball in order to keep it in their possession.
Kintzli Wagner fights for the ball with her chest while her opponent is working against her.
Tayloy Hill keeps the ball inbounds by hitting a header.
Montserrat Diaz kicks the ball up to keep it out of the defenders play.
Sydney Cotter creates space in between her defenders to move the ball down the field.

Against the Bearcats, the Tigers were able to score first in the fourth minute of the match on a goal from Taylor Hill.

Northwest Missouri did not trail the Tigers for long as Adell Gore scored in the 18th minute of the match.

Then in the 51st minute, Ximena Arnau scored to give the Bearcats the lead. Fort Hays State had opportunities but could not score.

Against Missouri Western, the Tigers were outshot 11-4 the entire game. The Griffons also had three shots on target compared to the Tigers’ one.

Graduate goalkeeper Mackenzie Caldwell earned three saves during the game for FHSU.

Fort Hays State has been dealing with injuries this season, as a total of seven players are out.

“We are dealing with a ton of injuries right now, seven are out, with three of them being our starting back four,” John said. “We have had to deal with a lot of adversity, and I am proud of the girls to get through this.”

Fort Hays State has a bye this upcoming Friday night that John thinks will be helpful for them.

“Finally, we get a bye. We are tired. We have had injuries, so we have had to rely on people for longer minutes,” John said. “Tomorrow (Monday) is their day off. I have urged them to take it completely off outside of getting treatments or anything rehabilitation-related. Then as we go along in the week, we will progressively put more on them.”

The Tigers will next host a Washburn team that was the runner-up in the NCAA National Tournament a year ago. First touch against the Ichabods is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday at FHSU Soccer Stadium.