It’s hard to improve on a perfect record to start a season, but SFU’s men’s soccer team may have done just that last week. After two close games on the road against California State University-East Bay and the Holy Names Hawks, the Clan flipped the switch at home.
Admittedly, it took a bit longer than one may have hoped, as the Clan fell behind early in their home opener against Hawaii Pacific.
“The guys that started the game played great,” said head coach Alan Koch of his team. “But unfortunately we went a goal down. [HPU] scored on a great free kick, it’s one of their biggest strengths. I give our guys a lot of credit. They dealt with the adversity and stepped up to the plate. The guys who started the game kept playing well and the guys who came in off the bench took it to a whole other level.”
Jovan Blagojevic was one those players to come off the bench, entering the game in the 33rd minute. Seconds after stepping onto the pitch, the junior from Coquitlam tied the game at one apiece. Before the first half was over, sophomore Colin Jacques put his team up 2–1, a lead the Clan would not relinquish, winning the match by the same score.
“I’ve got to thank my teammates,” said Jacques of his game winner after the game. “They really tired out the [opponent’s] starters in the early going. We came in with fresh legs. We were able to take it to them and score a couple goals.”
Things were a bit different in the Clan’s second home game of the season. “A couple of goals” would have been sufficient. Instead, the Clan fell just one short of double digits in a 9 – 0 romp of the Trinity Lutheran Eagles last Saturday in the last game of their non-conference schedule.
The game winner came early — a penalty kick tally from senior Carlo Basso in the first minute. It was lights out from there. The eagles would score an own goal, and Jacques would make it 3–0 before 30 minutes had been played.
The score actually stayed reasonable until the 70th minute, when the Clan would tally three more goals over a 10-minute span. North Vancouver’s Jason van Blerk scored on a header off a corner, Glenn Paden scored his first as a member of the Clan off another penalty kick, and diminutive senior Lucas Ferritto scored his third of the season to make it 6–0.
And in the final 10 minutes of the game, Ferritto would add another, and Paden two more to complete the hat trick, and the scoring. Paden would later be named Red Lion Player of the Week in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) for his troubles.
“We have all sorts of different guys who can score so it was nice to see so many players get on the scoresheet and it should give them confidence heading into conference play,” said Koch after the blowout victory.
It should be enough to give the hard-to-please Koch a little confidence too, as is the play of his goalkeepers: perhaps lost in the nine goals is that his keeper didn’t give up any — the Clan’s first shutout of the season.
“All three of our goalkeepers have played now and have played very well,” he said. All three of the Clan keepers are new to the team this year. “I give Toscanny [Pandu-Oesman] a lot of credit. He was very composed, his decision-making was very good, his communication was good. I hope as a goalkeeping tandem they can keep giving us strong performances.”
The same could be said for the whole team. Entering the GNAC portion of their schedule, the Clan look poised to make another run at the top spot in the conference, and even the NCAA Division II championship. After their 4–0 start, the squad has climbed from third to second and now to first in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America rankings. The team obviously won’t pot nine goals every game, but it shows what a powerhouse this team can be.
