FHSU Athletics

25th-ranked Fort Hays State pushed its win streak to seven matches with a 5-0 dismantling of Southwest Baptist on Thursday afternoon.

The shutout was FHSU’s sixth of the season, and came in dominant fashion, as the Tigers (9-3-1, 6-2-0 MIAA) allowed just three shots all afternoon (none of which were on goal) while firing 26 shots and putting 18 on goal. FHSU has now outscored Southwest Baptist 10-0 in the two games this season, completing the regular season sweep over the Bearcats.

David Lucio got things going for the Tigers early on, netting his third goal of the season off an assist from Tanner Brock. After a corner played short to Brock, who crossed the ball to the back post, Lucio headed it in from five yards out.

Six minutes before the break, Mauricio Castorino found Anthony Hernandez with a through ball, and Hernandez’s pass to Austin Clifton brought him to an open net score from 12 yards away.

Just 1:26 before halftime, Hernandez scored a goal of his own on Castorino’s second assist of the day. Castorino crossed from the right side of the field, where Hernandez fired the ball to the back post from inside the box.

Up 3-0 after the break, Castorino’s scored his first career goal at 59:53. Addison Pauler’s cross found the head of Castorino, who found the net to give FHSU a 4-0 advantage.

Inside 20 minutes to play, the Tigers scored their final afternoon off the head of Joe Albright. Tobias Patino fired a corner to the near post in the 74th minute, where Albright capitalized on a header from six yards away.

Castorino led the Tigers with five shots on the afternoon, while Diego Cabral (four shots on goal) and Clifton (two shots on goal) had four shots each.

Kent Freund played all 90 minutes, facing just three shots and lowering his goals against average to 1.03 per contest.

The Tigers continue MIAA play on the road this weekend with a Saturday matchup at Harding. FHSU defeated the Bison, 3-0, earlier this season in Hays. Game time for Searcy, Ark., is 1 p.m.