FHSU Athletics
BETHANY, Okla. - The 24th-ranked Fort Hays State men's soccer team defeated Southern Nazarene 3-1 on Thursday. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead early in the first half and the defense worked to hold off the Crimson Storm to secure a crucial conference victory. FHSU improved to 6-2-3 (4-0-1 GAC/MIAA) and SNU fell to 3-4-3 (1-1-2 GAC/MIAA).
The first score for the Tigers came on a corner kick by Inigo Jimenez as the ball soared through the air to Callum Frogson who headed it past the keeper in the 14th minute. Shortly after the ensuing kickoff, FHSU was on the attack again as Sean Thomson found Tadhg Walsh who sent a long pass toward the far post to be headed in by Jackson Elgas. The two goals found the back of the net just 18 seconds apart, the fastest pair of consecutive goals in program history. FHSU capped off the first-half scoring 10 minutes later as the defense worked the ball back to Kieran Brown, who launched the ball near the SNU box that eventually found Ethan Doud. He proceeded to find open space and fired the ball into the net.
In the second half, SNU managed to chip away at the FHSU lead as a chain of passes made found Shun Kushima, who bent the ball past Brown in the 60th minute. The Crimson Storm were unable to net another score as the Tigers remained unbeaten in GAC/MIAA play.
Southern Nazarene finished with 21 shots and placed five on target, while FHSU ended with eight shots and placed four on goal. Brown secured four saves between the posts for the Tigers, while Bence Moscari posted one for the Crimson Storm.
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday (Oct. 1) as they host Northeastern State with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m.