FHSU Athletics

No. 23 Fort Hays State Men’s Soccer fell in its MIAA opener, 2-1, to No. 15 Northeastern State in a matchup of Top 25 teams on Thursday in Tahlequah, Okla.
 
The Tigers (2-2-1) had nine shots on the night, though just three were on goal, and had to defend against a NSU (2-2-1) squad that fired 18 shots in the game. 
 
Northeastern State scored first, taking a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute on Lee Crosby’s first goal of the season.  Jordan Schmoker took a corner, crossing it into the box for Michael Greenfield, whose header found Crosby for a close shot from the left side.
 
The Tigers answered soon after, hitting the equalizer at 21:39.  Diego Cabral was tackled inside the box, and after the referees handed a yellow card to NSU’s Landon Merrill, Cabral scored on his first penalty kick attempt of the year to tie it, 1-1.
 
NSU regained the lead less than two minutes into the second half when Schmoker scored his fourth goal of the year.  Schmoker gathered the ball from Frank Garay, and though his shot was partially blocked by a Tiger defender, it deflected past a diving Kent Freund, giving the RiverHawks the lead, 2-1.
 
Soon after, at 48:35, FHSU’s Addison Pauler was issued a red card, forcing the Tigers to play the remaining minutes down one man in an 11-on-10 situation.  The Tigers matched NSU with four shots during that time frame, but couldn’t score a second game-tying goal.
 
Cabral had three shots to lead the team, ahead of Tanner Brock’s two shots. Mauricio Costa and Luan Silva each had additional shots on goal.
 
In the net, Freund played all 90 minutes and had five saves on the evening, while defensemen Eric Hymer, Carlos Linares and Drew Wilson played all 90 minutes for FHSU.
 
Fort Hays State returns to action this Saturday at Southern Nazarene in Bethany, Okla. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.