FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – On the heels of moving into the Top 25 of the national rankings, No. 22 ranked Fort Hays State posted a dominant 5-0 win over previously ranked Maryville University on Thursday night at Children's Mercy Victory Field at Swope Soccer Village. The Tigers moved to 3-0 overall on the season, while Maryville fell to 0-2-1 to start the year.
Bastian Carlman netted a hat trick to provide the first three scores for FHSU, then Anders Sandsto put the finishing touches on the win with the final two.
The Tigers picked up their first-ever win over Maryville after going 0-2-1 in their first three tries. The Saints made it to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in both 2022 and 2023 before holding a No. 12 preseason national ranking this year.
The Tigers made a habit of grabbing a quick lead at Children's Mercy Victory Field after scoring their game-winning goal on Sunday against Upper Iowa in the first minute. It took just 3:39 this time for Carlman to find the back of the net, assisted by Tadhg Walsh. That goal set the tone for what turned into a big night for Carlman and the Tigers offensively as they went on to outshoot the Saints 25-9.In the 33rd minute, Carlman struck again by putting home a rebound off an Elias Ovelar Semeniuk shot that hit the crossbar. The Tigers took a 2-0 advantage into halftime and didn't take their foot off the pedal in the second half. After holding a strong 12-3 advantage in shots through one half, it was more of the same from the Tigers in the second half with a 13-6 advantage.
The final three goals for the Tigers came in a bundle over about a six-minute span from 77:07 to 82:55 expired in the match. Carlman became the ninth player in program history to record a hat trick scoring the first of three second half goals. It was the second-straight year the Tigers had a player record a hat trick after Blake Arndt accomplished the feat against Ouachita Baptist last year. Just over two minutes later, Sandsto notched his first goal of the season on an assist from Collin Hershberger. Sandsto added another score in the 83rd minute off an assist from Siem Duijs.
To go with the offensive outburst, the Tigers put up another strong defensive effort holding an opponent under 10 shots for the third-straight match. FHSU allowed only one shot on goal again for the second-straight match, saved by Jorge Valentin in the 83rd minute just before the fifth and final goal of the match. Valentin and the Tigers picked up their second-straight clean sheet. FHSU has allowed only four shots on goal through three matches.
The Tigers will rest up for a week before a big matchup with No. 7 ranked Midwestern State next Thursday in Texas. The match will be the first of a pair for FHSU in Wichita Falls as they are set to meet Eastern New Mexico two days later.