FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State Men's Soccer was tabbed No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday (Aug. 4). The ranking matches FHSU's highest in program history, achieved by last year's team that made the NCAA national semifinals by going 20-1-3 overall. It also matches the highest preseason ranking for the Tigers in the poll, also bestowed in 2019 after the program's first national semifinal appearance in 2018.
This is the ninth time in the program's 15-year history FHSU has been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25. This is the third time the Tigers have entered a season among the top 10.
The Tigers made their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament last year and were the No. 1 seed in Super Region 3, which was the first time they received the top seed since the NCAA went to the super regional format for the national tournament in 2019. FHSU won all three super regional matches it hosted to claim the super region title and advance on to the national semifinals in Colorado Springs. The Tigers saw their phenomenal 2025 season close in a tough 1-0 loss to Rollins College (Fla.) in the semifinals, taking their only loss of the season after going unbeaten through the first 23 contests of the season.
Fort Hays State will enter its third season under head coach Alex Nichols, who has led the Tigers to an impressive 33-5-7 mark over two years. The 2025 season marked the fifth time in 12 seasons of coaching collegiate men's soccer that Nichols led a team to at least the national semifinals. It was his first time leading a program to that stage in the NCAA, and accomplished it four times at Central Methodist in the NAIA, where he headed a pair of national championship teams.
Leading the way in the preseason poll is defending national champion Midwestern State of Texas, followed by Rollins. Southern New Hampshire, the other national semifinalist, enters the year ranked No. 4 nationally.
Fort Hays State will open its 2026 season on August 27 at home. The Tigers' first match of the year will be a top-15 matchup as No. 13 ranked Rockhurst comes to Hays. The last time the teams met was also a matchup of national ranked teams as No. 4 ranked FHSU defeated No. 10 ranked Rockhurst 2-0 in the NCAA Super Region semifinals last year in Hays.
Rank School Prev W-L-T
1 Midwestern State University 1 19-3-3
2 Rollins College 2 14-5-5
3 Fort Hays State University 3 20-1-3
4 Southern New Hampshire University 4 16-3-2}
5 California State University Stanislaus 5 17-2-1
6 Rogers State University 6 14-4-5
7 Point Loma Nazarene University 7 16-4-2
8 Lynn University 8 14-3-1
9 University of Charleston 9 17-1-4
10 Mississippi College 10 15-3-4
11 Gannon University 11 15-3-4
12 Palm Beach Atlantic University 12 13-3-2
13 Rockhurst University 13 12-5-4
14 Franklin Pierce University 14 12-4-4
15 Flagler College 15 15-3-6
16 Lincoln University (Mo.) 16 11-2-7
17 Anderson University (S.C.) 17 11-2-6
18 University of Colorado-Colorado Springs 18 12-6-5
19 Bentley University 19 11-3-4
20 California State University-Dominguez Hills 20 12-4-4
21 Cedarville University 21 12-2-7
22 University of West Florida 22 13-2-5
23 Florida Tech 23 8-3-8
24 Young Harris College 24 15-2-3
25 Seattle Pacific University 25 12-4-4
Receiving votes: Tiffin University (Ohio), California State University-San Bernardino, University of Bridgeport, Adelphi University, University of Hawaii-Hilo, Post University, Maryville University of St. Louis, McKendree University, University of Indianapolis, Northern Michigan University, Roberts Wesleyan University, Lincoln.