#13 (2) Rogers State (14-3-5) at
#4 (1) Fort Hays State (19-0-3)
Saturday, December 6 – 1 p.m.
Hays, Kan. – FHSU Soccer Stadium
 
The national quarterfinal and NCAA Super Region 3 Championship match is set for Saturday (Dec. 6) in Hays as No. 1 seed Fort Hays State will take on No. 2 seed Rogers State. Match time is set for 1 p.m. at FHSU Soccer Stadium. This will be the fourth time FHSU and RSU meet this season after playing twice in the regular season and then the GAC/MIAA Tournament Championship match. The No. 4 nationally ranked Tigers enter at 19-0-3 overall, while the No. 13 ranked Hillcats are 14-3-5 overall.
 
After FHSU took the first meeting between the teams this year 4-0 in Claremore, the last two battles at FHSU Soccer Stadium have been tight. FHSU won 1-0 on its home field in the regular season and then 2-1 in the GAC/MIAA Tournament title match.
 
This is the only super region in the NCAA Tournament where No. 1 and No. 2 seeds will play for the right to move on to the national semifinals in Colorado Springs. FHSU and Southern New Hampshire (Super Region 1) are the only No. 1 seeds remaining in the national tournament. SNHU will host No. 6 seed Gannon (Pa.) in Super Region 1. In Super Region 2, No. 5 seed Rollins (Fla.) takes on No. 6 seed Mississippi College. In Super Region 4, No. 3 seed Point Loma (Calif.) takes on No. 4 seed Midwestern State (Texas).
 
To get to this point, Fort Hays State defeated No. 9 seed Indianapolis 3-0 in the second round and No. 4 seed Rockhurst 2-0 in the third round on its home pitch to reach the super regional title match. Rogers State took care of business at home as well with a 1-0 win over No. 7 seed Cedarville in the second round and then a 1-0 win over No. 3 seed Lincoln in the third round.
 
This is Fort Hays State's sixth appearance in the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, with their last back in 2021. The Tigers are looking for their second trip to the national semifinals in program history after an appearance in 2018. That year the Tigers won 2-0 at home over Ohio Valley to punch their ticket to be one of the final four teams remaining. This is the first-ever appearance in a national quarterfinal for Rogers State.
 
Fort Hays State has reached 19 wins for the first time in its 15-year program history. The Tigers navigated the regular season unbeaten for the first time in program history at 15-0-3, then won the GAC/MIAA Tournament title to improve to 17-0-3 before entering the national tournament.
 
The Tigers are led by GAC/MIAA Offensive Player of the Year and D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year Elias Ovelar Semeniuk who has 15 goals and four assists, good for 34 points on the season. Joseph Street leads the team in assists with 12, tied for sixth in the nation. Payton Roehrich ran his single-season school record for individual shutouts to 10 in last week's win, though he has been part of five combined shutouts as well. He owns an .855 save percentage and 0.42 goals against average.
Fort Hays State leads NCAA Division II in won-loss-tie percentage (.932) and goal differential (+54). The Tigers have the second-best shots per match average (18.09), corner kicks per match average (7.68) and shutout percentage (.682). FHSU is third nationally in assists per match (2.73), goals against average (.455), total goals (64), total assists (60), and total points (188).
 
Rogers State is led in goals by Brandon O'Rourke with five goals. Ashton Medina, Oliver Hemlin, Noah Preston-Watkins and Grayson Horsley all have four.  Louis Bassett leads the Hillcats with six assists. Jaxon Kendall has a save percentage of .833 and a 0.68 goals against average.