SFU wins twice, sit on top of conference

By Bryan Scott

The Simon Fraser University men’s soccer team continued their successful season this past week. They played the University of Mary Marauders on the road, then the Seattle Pacific University Falcons. The Clan were triumphant, taking both games.
Their first match of the week was in Bismarck, ND, where they took on the University of Mary Marauders. This game needed the full 90 minutes plus another six minutes of overtime to find a victor. The teams would remain scoreless until the 22nd minute when forward Carlo Basso netted his 9th of the season on a nice pass from Johan Blagojevic. The teams would finish the first half without another goal despite the quickness and intensity of the game.
The Marauders were unable to hold the Clan back to start the second half, as Alex Rowley gave the Clan a 2–0 lead in the 50th minute. It seemed as though the Clan were going to cruise to their seventh win of the season, but in the 81st minute, the Marauders dug deep, cutting the lead to one. The time was trickling down to the buzzer, and with just a few seconds remaining the ball was kicked by a Marauders player, off the crossbar and in the net. The gamed needed an overtime hero.
Luckily, that hero came in the form of Clan freshman forward Colin Jaques. He beat the opposing goaltender from five yards out to give the Clan an important conference win.
The Clan returned home to face the Seattle Pacific University Falcon’s on Terry Fox Field. This time there was no question about the Clan’s dominance. A likely suspect in Chris Bargholz scored in the seventh minute, he buried another in the 24th minute, both goals were assisted by Justin Wallace. Wallace scored one of his own four minutes later to give the Clan a 3–0 lead. Head coach Alan Koch was pleased with the start, “Our players were ready to play from the first whistle and it showed. Justin Wallace was brilliant. He has had a slow start to the season, and it was great to see him come out of his shell.” The Clan finished the half with a 4–1 lead and outshot the Falcon’s 14–5. Blagojevic added another goal late in the game. “This was our best performance of the season so far,” continued Koch.
With the 5–1 win, the Clan sit on top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a record of 4–1 (8–1 overall).