By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State University women’s soccer team has struggled during the first half of the MIAA season, struggling to amass conference points during the first five MIAA matches. However, a decisive 3-0 victory over Newman on Sunday has given the Tigers (3-7-1, 1-4-1) some much-needed momentum heading into a crucial road trip this weekend.
FHSU Head Coach Tyson John said that beating Newman had lifted some weight off the Tigers’ backs and said he is satisfied with the style of play the team presented.
“The first wins are always important, because you can’t have the second before you have the first. It was a tough match because it was really, really windy, and their field is not necessarily in the best condition, but to score three different types of goals is a really big deal for us,” John said. “We scored on a cross, a shot, and our third one was a ball getting into the end line and playing it across, and being able to finish that. So being able to be diversified in the way that we’re scoring goals, I think, is now going to be hopefully promising for us moving forward.”
FHSU is currently in a four-way tie for 8th place in the MIAA points standings with six games to play. The Tigers are now preparing for their next challenge, as they go on the road to play two Northwest Missouri State (7-3, 4-1) on Friday and Missouri Western (6-1-3, 2-1-2) on Sunday.
The Bearcats’ only conference loss came to the Central Missouri Jennies, who lead the conference with 14 points. NWSMU is not far behind with 12 points while Missouri Western has 8 points. The Bearcats have a strong defense, conceding less than 1 goal per game. This will be a significant challenge for the Tigers, who so far in conference play have only scored five total goals that came in two of their six MIAA matches.
John said that both of the Tigers’ opponents are tough, but that, first of all, his team is focusing on the Bearcats.
“We have two tough games against two very, very tough teams. And we need to get results. That’s the only way that we’re going to be able to make the tournament is by getting results,” he said. “And so one game at a time, we are focused on Northwest Missouri first, and then we’ll worry about Missouri Western after we’re done Friday.”
Missouri Western has also only lost once in MIAA play, dropping a game to the UCM Jennies. They will play Nebraska-Kearney on Friday before the matchup against FHSU. They also excel defensively, conceding only 0.5 goals per game.
FHSU’s midfielder Berkley Sparks, who scored one goal and added an assist against Newman, said this weekend’s challenge is going to be harder, but the win against Newman boosted the players’ confidence.
“I definitely think that the win pushed our confidence level higher,” she said. “We will face a lot tougher teams than we just faced this weekend. So, preparation is going to be a little bit different, but going into it with a confident booster after that one.”
The Tigers will play at Northwest Missouri at 3 p.m. on Friday and at Missouri Western at 1 p.m. on Sunday.