CLAREMORE, Okla. – For the second time in the 2019 campaign, the Fort Hays State Tigers have defeated the Rogers State Hillcats in conference play. The first result, which occurred at home in Hays, was a 2-0 victory for FHSU. Thursday night’s match ended, 1-0, in favor of the black and gold.

The majority of the rematch was filled with back and forth play. At the conclusion of the match, the Tigers held 52-percent of the possession, with a large portion of that number being controlled in the midfield.

Meanwhile, the Hillcats spent a large portion of their 90 minutes in the attacking half of the field.

Although Rogers State pressured the Tigers with 11 shots throughout the match, they were unable to find the back of the net due to a strong defensive presence from Fort Hays State’s back line. Each of the four defensive players (Mariano Benitez, Alec Bevis, Moritz Walther, and Joey McCain) played all 90 minutes in the victory.

Freshman goalkeeper Kieran Brown collected two saves en route to his second career clean sheet.

With just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Alonso Rodriguez struck Fort Hays’ eighth shot of the match. From a few yards inside the 18-yard box, the junior midfielder slotted the ball in the lower right-hand corner of the goal, registering his third of the season.

Almost two minutes later, Rogers State’s James Connor attempted to equalize the scoresheet, but had his shot ring off the crossbar.

Now 8-3-1, FHSU will battle against conference foe, Northeastern State University on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers and the RiverHawks clashed in Hays earlier in the season when an overtime goal by Santiago Agudelo sealed the result for the black and gold. Their second matchup this season is slated for a 1 p.m. kickoff.