FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State Men's Soccer claimed its third-consecutive GAC/MIAA Tournament Championship by defeating Northeastern State 2-1 at FHSU Soccer Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers earned an automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament next week and will find out its seed for Super Region 3 on Monday evening during the NCAA selection show. FHSU is now 15-2-3 overall, while NSU closed its season at 8-10-1 overall.
Fort Hays St. took a 1-0 lead into halftime after JJ Espinosa scored in the 21st minute on a header in the box off a free kick from Juan Linares. The Tigers held narrow 3-2 advantages in shots and corner kicks in the first half.
Fort Hays St. generated its most concentrated second-half pressure from 73:00 to 79:19, taking six shots during a stretch that included Davide Francesca's goal pushing the Tiger lead to 2-0. Francesca was persistent in close, as two of his shots were saved by the NSU keeper but the third attempt got by for the goal.
Northeastern State tightened the match in the 83rd minute on a Martin Martinez goal, assisted by Harry Tremblez, but Fort Hays State held on to run its streak of remaining unbeaten in conference regular season and tournament matches to 40 straight, going back to the 2024 season. It is the second-longest streak of that sort in NCAA Division II history, only behind the 46-straight by Southern Connecticut State accomplished from 1995 to 2000.
Fort Hays State led the total shot count 14-10. Payton Roehrich kept NSU off the scoreboard for the 85 minutes he played in goal and NSU's lone score was against Marco Rosa, who saw five minutes of action. Roehrich had one save. NSU goalkeeper Victor Jaunay made six saves despite yielding two goals.
Fort Hays State is now 3-fo-3 in winning conference tournament titles under head coach Alex Nichols, who is in his third year leading the Tigers.
The NCAA selection show will be on Monday evening (Nov. 9) at 5:30 p.m. CT.
Fort Hays State Top Performers
Davide Francesca – 1 game-winning goal
JJ Espinosa - 1 goal
Juan Linares - 1 assist
Payton Roehrich - 84:55 in goal, 1 save, no goals allowed.