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By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
Fort Hays State University men’s soccer extended its streak of no-loss games to 12 on their way to winning the 2024 Great American Conference Tournament Championship. The Tigers beat Rogers State and Southern Nazarene, two teams that they were unable to defeat in the regular season, on their way to the title. FHSU’s performance earned a bid to the NCAA tournament as a 10-seed. The Tigers will play 7-seed Davenport University in Super Region 3.
The GAC tournament was a success for the Tigers, as even though they are still considering themselves as a new team, they came together at the right moment and lifted Fort Hays over two opponents who were ranked above them in the conference regular season standings.
Marcos German, who assisted the second team goal in the final against Southern Nazarene, said the team deserved their win.
“We will feel like we deserved it. During the regular season, we felt like we deserved more, and it was like a statement we made to the rest of the conference,” he said.
FHSU Head Coach Alex Nichols was happy for his players after the achievement.
“It was good to see the guys have success,” he said. “It’s been a lot of hard work, and it was just exciting to see the guys happy and to be able to celebrate.”
In the semifinals against Rogers State, the Tigers had a 3-2 lead, but conceded an equalizer goal with 10 minutes left in regulation. FHSU missed a few good chances at the end, including two attempts that hit the goalpost. FHSU remained composed through two overtime periods and won in penalty kicks.
German reflected on those stressful minutes.
“I could feel [in] looking at everyone’s faces, we could still make the win because we deserved it,” German said. “Our goalkeeper played a really good game. He did great. I think we all kind of knew we had our chance to win.”
In the final against Southern Nazarene, the Tigers got out to an early 2-0 lead but conceded a goal at the beginning of the second half. However, FHSU held on to win the game.
Nichols was happy with the team’s performance but has already looked at some aspects his team could improve on going forward.
“We played a lot of good defense, but we still gave up four goals (in the GAC tournament). So we just simply have got to get better,” he said. “But we’re excited about everything and we were confident and motivated. So we have to get ready for another opponent now.”
FHSU’s opponent, Davenport, lost in the semifinal of the GLIAC conference tournament but still earned the No. 7 seed in the region for the NCAA tournament.
German talked about the Tigers’ opening-round draw.
“We thought we could have been seeded higher than 10,” he said. “But if you want to win the tournament, you have to win against every team either way.”
Nichols expressed his confidence in his players and said the team would have to move one game at a time.
“Nothing’s going to be given to us. So, every game is going to be a great opponent, and every game is going to be tough,” he said. “So just kind of take one game at a time and have guys step up and take care of business and give it all they got. We have a very strong team.”
The Tigers will play Davenport at 1 p.m. on Friday in Lebanon, Illinois. The winner will advance to face McKendree, the region’s host team and No. 2 seed, on Sunday.