HAYS, Kan. — Sophie Spoonmore scored a pair of goals to lead Missouri Southern soccer to a 2-0 victory over Fort Hays State Sunday afternoon at FHSU Soccer Stadium.
Missouri Southern held Fort Hays State scoreless through an eight-action attacking stretch in the first half and allowed no shots after halftime.
MSSU is now 2-4-2 overall in 2026 and 1-1-1 in MIAA conference play. Fort Hays State is 2-6-1 overall and 0-4-0 in conference play.
Spoonmore scored twice, including the game-winning goal, and led the Lions with six shots, three on goal. She has now scored three goals in the last three contests and leads MSSU with four goals and eight points in 2026.
Spoonmore's two-goal performance is the first for the Lions since Kylie Stonestreet netted a pair of goals against Central Missouri on Sept. 9, 2022.
Bella Smith played all 90 minutes in goal and recorded three saves while posting the shutout. The shutout was her second of the weekend and 11th in her career at MSSU.
Lizeth Almaraz recorded an assist and finished with one point.
Nevie White added an assist for one point.
Spoonmore put Southern in front at 20:28, finishing off an Almaraz assist for a 1-0 lead. Earlier, Missouri Southern built pressure with a corner in the fourth minute and five shots between 10:29 and 19:49, including two attempts apiece from
Presley Whitmire and Spoonmore.
The Tigers pushed back after the Spoonmore goal, but Smith made three saves in less than four minutes while FHSU also hit the woodwork twice during that stretch.
Alexis Rodriguez added a late shot for MSSU, and the Lions carried the 1-0 lead into halftime.
Spoonmore gave Missouri Southern the key second-half finish in the 64th minute, scoring off a White assist to push the MSSU lead to 2-0. Earlier, the Lions created pressure with a 51st-minute corner and a Whitmire shot wide in the 53rd, while also playing through a foul-heavy stretch that included three MSSU fouls and three FHSU fouls before the goal.
After Spoonmore scored, Southern kept pressing with a corner, two more off-target shots and a saved Spoonmore attempt in the next 10 minutes.
The Lions added saved shots from
Samantha Glossup and
Ashley Chaput late, held Fort Hays State without a recorded second-half shot and finished off the 2-0 win.
With the win Sunday, MSSU has now matched its win total from 2025 and 2024.
The MIAA win is Missouri Southern's first under head coach
Elliot Chadderton and the first MIAA win for the Lions since Nov. 3, 2024's 1-0 victory over Newman.
The Lions next continue MIAA play with games at Northwest Missouri and Missouri Western on Oct. 2 and Oct. 4, respectively.
Fall MSSU Athletic tickets are currently on sale
online. Fans can also purchase an
MIAA Network subscription to support Missouri Southern Athletics and catch all the Lions action this 2026-27 season.
