CLAREMORE, Okla. – The No. 8 Rogers State men's soccer team claimed the 2020-21 Great American Conference Regular Season Championship on Saturday at Soldier Field.
 
The Hillcats earned a 1-1 draw after double overtime against Fort Hays State to secure a point and clinch the first regular season title in school history for the Hillcat men's soccer program.
 
A rematch of the 2019 GAC Tournament Championship game lived up to the hype, as the Hillcats and Tigers battled in another tightly contest matchup.
 
The Hillcats were looking strong early with several shots on target in the opening minutes.
 
Grant King missed from close range as his volley from a cross on the wing missed just left of the goal.
 
Jesus Ramirez had two early shots saved and Cin Mang also had a good look, firing a left-footed shot from the top of the penalty area off of the crossbar.
 
Against the run of play, Fort Hays State struck first on a counter attack in the 27^th minute. Zedan Mutlu played a cross in from the left wing and Blake Arndt headed the ball past Dillon Dean into the left side of the goal.
 
The Hillcats would answer almost exactly 10 minutes later. A long ball was played into the box for Jordan Watson from Michael Turner. Watson took control of the ball at the edge of the area and was pulled down by Chris Rios-Cruz for a penalty kick.
 
Watson stepped up and tucked the penalty into the corner to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The second half saw the Hillcats dominate for much of the 45 minutes, firing eight shots, including five on target.
 
Watson had one of the best looks, as he forced Kieran Brown into a diving save on a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area. After Brown's save was pushed back into play, the goalkeeper got up and made another sprawling save to deny Jaxon Pitt.
 
The teams would head into overtime tied at 1-1. Dean would be forced to make a sprawling save on a long-range strike in the first overtime and Watson would force the only save in the second overtime on a free kick.
 
With the regular season championship, the Hillcats lift a trophy for the second time in two seasons, after defeating Fort Hays 4-3 on penalty kicks in the GAC Tournament Championship Game in the fall of 2019.
 
With the title, the Hillcats also claim the top seed in the GAC Tournament to be played over the next two weeks. The Hillcats will take on Southern Nazarene next weekend. A game date and time have not been announced at the time of release.