By CAYDEN SANDERS
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State University men’s soccer team has known it would be hosting this weekend’s GAC Postseason Tournament for some time. The Tigers (15-0-3, 11-0-1) clinched the No. 1 seed and right to host in the penultimate week of the regular season. However, that doesn’t diminish the fact that FHSU will be hosting the GAC tournament for the first time since 2019.
“This is a healthy team; we are humbled,” junior forward Elias Ovelar Semeniuk said. “We know that this is just the result of our job. So we know that we just need to keep going, keep doing our job.”
The Tigers are undefeated against the other three teams in the field, going 2-0 against today’s semifinal foe, No. 4 Northeastern State, as well as 2-0 against both No. 3 Newman and No. 2 Rogers State.
But for all teams competing in the GAC Tournament, this is their third time going against each other. FHSU Head Coach Alex Nichols recognizes that this will create additional challenges for all four squads and how they prepare for their matches.
“The more you play a team, the more they get to know you, the harder it is to keep winning, but we are also getting to know them,” Nichols said. “So they’re going to be better in certain things against us, and we should be better than them in certain things. So it still comes down to exploiting what we can.”
Today will feature two semifinal matches, FHSU vs Northeastern State ( 8-7-3, 5-6-1) and Rogers State (12-2-4, 8-2-2) vs Newman (7-5-6, 4-4-4), with the championship match on Saturday.
To wrap up the regular season, Newman faced Northeastern State on Saturday, playing to a 1-1 tie. Rogers State defeated Harding 2-0 on Saturday as well. FHSU has had a bit more time off, having played its last regular-season match on Thursday against Newman.
While FHSU’s seeding for the GAC Tournament was already secured, the Tigers were still playing for history against Newman, seeking the first unbeaten regular season in program history. After trailing 2-0 early in the second half, the Tigers rallied to score three goals in 17 minutes and secure a 3-2 victory.
“We were the better team in the first half. It was a good first half. But in the second half, the first 15 minutes, they were the better team,” Nichols said. “We were down 2-0 and [we said] ‘all right, we’re either going to go after this and try and win or what’s the difference between losing 3-0 or 2-0 or 5-0. So let’s go after this thing and win it.’ So we made a few adjustments, and the guys stepped up to get the win.”
For senior midfielder Tadhg Walsh, this season was not planned when he visited Hays for the first time.
“When I came to check out Fort Hays, I knew that they were ranked seventh in the nation. So I knew that the program had high standards, and I just wanted to come in and make an impact and hopefully do better than that,” Walsh said. “Obviously, the first two years weren’t what we wanted, but now, and like last year, pushing on the national tournament, and hopefully this year we can go even further.”
Walsh was unanimously named the Great American Conference Midfielder of the Year. During his career, he holds the all-time record for most assists in a season by a Tiger with 15 and is a two-time All-GAC selection, a 2024 All-Central region midfielder, and a second-team All-American.
“I might be in the history books for the most assists in a season, and all the other awards I have collected while I have been here, but I could not have done it without my teammates,” Walsh said.
Wash has a chance to be the conference’s first four-time All-GAC/MIAA tournament player in six seasons on GAC/MIAA play.
FHSU collected additional hardware as Ovelar Semeniuk was the unanimous selection for Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in goals with 11. Like Walsh, this season has been a fever dream of accomplishing the program’s best performances for Ovelar Semeniuk, and he just wanted to enjoy the experience.
“I did not think that I could be one of the best here. When I came here, I was more focused on enjoying and being part of a team, making friends, and enjoying this game,” Ovelar Semeniuk said. “We are blessed that we have these skills and divine gifts. It’s good to have a good team and be a part of the history we are with the program. I am just happy to be a part of this team.”
Ovelar Semeniuk said as long as he can remember he has been playing soccer, and to experience the chemistry that this team has is special to him.
“Ever since I have a memory, I have been playing this game. It’s impressive the feelings that you get from a simple sport like this,” he said. “We may come from all over the world, we may not speak the same verbal language, but we speak the same language of fütball, and it is great to be a part of a team like this. Where we have the same common goal.”
The Tigers remain the top team in the latest Super Region Rankings and the team knows it would be an advantage to host a region in Hays. However, they also know that Northeastern State sits in front on them in the meantime. The NCAA Selection Show is at 6 p.m. on Monday.
“It’s an advantage to play at home; we’ve earned every advantage. Last season, we went to McKendree, and they had the advantage, and they earned it. You just want to maximize any advantage you have,” Nichols said. “It is natural to think how each conference tournament game is going to affect us, but we have control of what happens, so we are just focused on Northeastern State right now.”
Fort Hays State and Northeastern State open the conference tournament with a 3:00 p.m. first touch on Thursday. The second match between Rogers State and Newman is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. The Conference Championship is set for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. All games will be played at FHSU Soccer Stadium.
“When you shoot for a B, you’re never going to get an A,” Nichols said. “At the end of the day, we want to win a national championship. The only way to win a national championship is to try and keep getting better, and to take every game seriously.”