By CAYDEN SANDERS
Tiger Media Network
Facing a familiar opponent can be a good or bad thing. How it ends up for the Fort Hays State University men’s soccer team will be determined Saturday afternoon in a match that will determine if the season continues or ends.
FHSU, the No. 4 team in NCAA Division II, comes into the Elite Eight match at 19-0-3 — the most wins in a season in program history. The Tigers look to make history as the school’s second team to ever play in the Final Four, but they have to go through conference foe and 13th-ranked Rogers State at 1 p.m. Saturday at FHSU Soccer Stadium.
“They’re a good team. We’ve got a lot of respect for Rogers State,” said FHSU head coach Alex Nichols. “You don’t want to ever see a team four times, but at the end of the day, it’s still a game with two good teams, both playing some good soccer. So we’ve got a lot of respect for the team, and we’re gonna have to work real hard and do a good job against them.”
Rogers State (14-3-5) has only lost to the Tigers this season. In some of their marquee wins, the Hillcats defeated Lincoln, Maryville, McKendree and Rockhurst.
To make it to the Final Four, the Tigers need to defeat the Hillcats for the fourth time this season. That challenge has been increasingly harder each meeting.
In the first match, the Tigers won 4-0 on the road against the Hillcats, ranked No. 8 at the time. At home, FHSU won 1-0 in the second match. In the third meeting, in the Great American Conference championship, the Tigers needed to rally for a 2-1 victory and the tournament championship.
“Coming from behind to win a conference championship is obviously a bit of a weird one, but (we’re) also playing the same team four times,” said senior midfielder Tadhg Walsh. “We know each other well now, and we know their strengths and weaknesses. We’ve just got to go into the game where we’re good men holding you and don’t get complacent. Get the win and move on.”
This time around, there is a lot more on the line than in past matches. Both teams are having their best season in seven years in the 14 years of the FHSU program. For Rogers State, this is its best season in 18 years of the program.
The Hillcats are in their second NCAA tournament and last season made it to the second round after beating Southern Nazarene. The Hillcats want to keep their historic season alive.
To win the match, FHSU is going to rely on junior forward Elias Ovelar Semeniuk, who currently holds the third-most goals in a season (15), along with multiple national top statistics.
“If I can have my name here, that will be awesome because it means a lot to me,” the junior forward said. “I grew up here a lot. I became mature being here at Fort Hays. So, yeah, it would be good to have my name here, but the meaning that I give to that is not just to have the name and be proud of it.”
Walsh looks to stop the resurgence of Rogers State midfielder Ashton Medina, who scored the two game-winning goals against Cedarville and Lincoln in the national tournament.
“I think it’s important that we focus on what we can control,” Walsh said. “And for us in the midfield, we have to play well to help both sides. (Ashton) Medina is a great player, and we can not lose focus when he is in.”
The Tigers have three matches remaining to reach their ultimate goal of a national title. That three-match swing begins Saturday.
“This has been one hell of a first year. It’s been really fun, and I don’t want it to end — as long as it ends with the ring on the finger,” said freshman goalkeeper Payton Roehrich. “That’s the goal. Everyone came into the season hoping for that. At the end of the day, that’s our goal, and that’s what we’re gonna push for. So just take it one game at a time.”
This story was written as part of INF 349, a course in the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University