Story by MAYAN PAZ Photos by RORY MOORE
Tiger Media Network
After a successful, unbeaten non-conference campaign, the FHSU men’s soccer team started conference play with a home game against the Northeastern State RiverHawks. The defending GAC champions could not have hoped for a better start to conference play, with a one-sided, 5-1 win in front of the home crowd.
The Fort Hays Tigers Men’s Soccer team prepares to play the Northeastern State RiverHawks. 
Cheering for Juan Linares during his introduction. 
The coin toss. 
Defender Jackson Elgas attempts to steal. 
Elias Ovelar Semeniuk sets up a shot. 
Colliding with RiverHawk defense while leaping for a pass. 
Midfielder Joseph Street signals for his teammates to move before passing. 
Street tangles with a RiverHawk while dribbling. 
Forward Agustin Ayala scored the first goal at the 28:52 mark of the first half. 
Cheering on Ayala’s goal. 
Ayala kicks to a teammate. 
Ayala slides while defending. 
Forward Bastian Carlman celebrates his goal. 
Rejoicing after Carlman’s second goal of the game. 
Defender Federico Heinrich passes while evading tough defense. 
It took almost 30 minutes for the Tigers (5-0-2, 1-0) to score the first goal in a very physical match. But a deep throw-in by Jospeh Street created chaos in the NSU (3-2-2, 0-1) box, and after the ball was deflected off the frame, Agustin Ayala was in the right place to nudge the ball in from a close range.
That goal opened up the game, and the Tigers were quick to capitalize on their advantage. In the 32nd minute, only three minutes after their first goal, a fast break initiated by Street ultimately found Tadhg Walsh open in front of the goal after an assist by Bastian Carlman. Ten minutes later, Carlman was on the scoring side, striking the ball from the edge of the box to overcome the NSU goalkeeper, setting the halftime score at 3-0.
It took the Tigers just three minutes in the second half to add another goal to their tally, as a set-piece situation found left back Federico Heinrich open in the box after Mario Vales set the ball nicely for him to find the net, and put an end to any comeback hopes by NSU.
Carlman added the final Tiger goal in the 55th minute with a close-range finish.
Carlman reflected on his performance after missing three games due to a calf injury.
“I mean, it’s the first game of the conference. It’s great for me to get two assists, two goals, to get the team going,” he said. “And it’s always nice to get the win in our first conference game and just roll on from there. And for me, after missing the last three games with a calf injury. This was nice to get into the rhythm again, scoring goals like last season.”
To set the final score, the Tigers were unfortunate as they scored an own goal at the 63rd-minute mark. Vales was the last man to touch the ball, as it deflected off the crossbar, and the final score was set at 5-1 in favor of the Tigers.
Walsh spoke about the overall team performance.
“I thought we started off really well, with good energy, and got the first goal, and then we just kept going,” he said. “We were relentless. It says a lot about the team’s mentality, how we want to win as much as we can. So, looking confident now going into the next game.”
FHSU Head Coach Alex Nichols was satisfied with the team’s performance, but still found some places where he wants to see improvement. Despite converting 18 shots into five goals, Nichols still wants better execution from his players.
“I think we still left some opportunities on the board, but at the end of the day, it was better. We’re starting to put more on the back of the net, but we still need to execute more,” he said. “So, a lot of good and positive things to say about tonight’s game, but some things that are still a little bit off. Sometimes, from a defensive standpoint, or to get a little bit more conversion, a little bit more sharpness, even if we don’t score, just a little bit sharper with opportunities. So we’ve still got a good way to go. But it was good.”
He also added on the need to avoid own goals, as the Tiger defense continues to excel, with that goal being their first goal conceded after four consecutive games with a clean sheet.
“We can’t have own goals, that’s for sure, but we just need to humble up and get ready for the next game,” he said. “They have a little break here, which is deserved. They’ve been working hard. We’re proud of them, but then we need to humble up and get ready, because we still have plenty of things to improve on, and we’ve got some tough opponents/”
The Tigers will have a week off before going on a road trip to Oklahoma to play Rogers State and Southern Nazarene.