BETHANY, Okla. – The Southern Nazarene Men's Soccer team made history today as they welcomed the visiting Tigers of Fort Hays State University into Wes Harmon Field on Tuesday afternoon. For the first time since joining Division 2, SNU (2-1, 2-1 GAC) beat a nationally ranked opponent as the Storm topped FHSU (2-1, 2-1 GAC) 3-2 in their 2021 home opener.
Their momentous win today gave the Storm their second win of the season, matching last year's win total already.
The physical match featured 22 fouls, most coming towards the end of the game. The Storm fired a total of nine shots, six on target, while the Tigers registered eight. The defensive effort of SNU allowed for only two of FHSU's shots to be on target.
Southern Nazarene went to battle early with Fort Hays as the evenly matched clubs spent time up and down the field. The Crimson Storm finally broke the seal when Juan Rodarte headed a shot in off a perfect corner kick from Eric Romero to give SNU a 1-0 lead going into the break.
The Storm's success would continue in the second half as Nathaniel Mederos collected his first goal of the season from Phillips Gomez at the 68:39 minute mark of the match. A few moments later, the Tigers finally answered with a score of their own to tally the score at 2-1. A glimmer of hope seemed to open for FHSU, but SNU quickly shut the door as Nathaniel Mederos put in his second goal of the game at the 74:20 minute mark, assisted by Angel Lopez, to put the Storm up 3-1.
A last minute goal by the Tigers was not enough as SNU was able to walk away with their most significant win in recent program history.
Nathaniel Mederos led the way for the Crimson Storm as he was a score shy of a hat-trick with two goals off a total of four shots. Juan Rodarte collected his third score of the season as he fired a total of two shots. Eric Romero, Phillips Gomez, and Angel Lopez each registered an assist apiece. Romero and Lopez each also tallied one shot on target. In the net, Ramiro Jimenez was kept busy on the day as he faced a total of eight shots and collected one save in the match.
Southern Nazarene will hope to carry this momentum over into Friday's matchup at home against the nation's No. 23 ranked club, Rogers State. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
