FHSU Athletics
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Fort Hays State swept the weekly Player of the Week awards from the GAC for men's soccer on Tuesday. Oliver Wright was named the Defender of the Week, Juan Linares was the Offensive Player of the Week, and Payton Roehrich was the Goalkeeper of the Week. The trio helped nationally ranked Fort Hays State to shutouts against Harding and Ouachita Baptist to remain a perfect 5-0 in GAC play so far this season.
Wright produced six points for the week and had both of Fort Hays State's game-winning goals. All three of his goals were on headers inside the box directly off throw-ins by Joseph Street, who collected assists on all three goals. Wright scored the first two goals of a 5-0 win over Harding and the first goal of the 3-0 win over Ouachita Baptist. He played the most minutes of any Tiger defender for the week and helped the Tigers to their seventh and eighth shutouts of the season, extending their program-best start without a loss to 9-0-2 overall for the season.
Linares scored two goals for the week, helping FHSU firmly secure both wins for the week. He had the fifth goal of the 5-0 win over Harding and the second goal in the 3-0 win over Ouachita Baptist. His goal against OBU helped FHSU gain separation with about 11 minutes to go in the match after leading by just one goal for the majority of the match.
Roehrich picked up a combined shutout in the 5-0 win over Harding and then an individual shutout in the 3-0 win over Ouachita Baptist. He had to make one save in the latter part of the match against Ouachita Baptist to keep a clean sheet for the week. Roehrich has a 0.31 goals against average, a .900 save percentage, and six individual shutouts for the season so far. He has also been a part of two combined shutouts, starting in goal in all eight shutouts for FHSU this season.