After their first loss of the season, the SFU men’s soccer team was looking to get back into the win column last weekend as the team visited Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, WA. Like their record, it wasn’t a perfect effort, but the Clan pulled out a 2–1 victory against the Saints on the road, further cementing their spot at the top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
After dropping a game against their biggest rivals, Seattle Pacific, on the road, the Clan needed a bounce-back effort as the team wouldn’t play at home again until Oct. 12 (after time of press). “We need to re-group and increase our collective focus ahead of our next match . . . This conference championship is going to be a dog fight,” said head coach Alan Koch, after the loss to the Falcons.
It took a full half against SMU for that regroup to really get going, but just two minutes into the second half, sophomore forward, Colin Jacques, opened the scoring for the Clan, giving his team a lead it would not relinquish.
“I still feel that we can play a lot better than we are right now.”
– Alan Koch,
head coach
Fellow sophomore, Ryan Dhillon, would double the Clan’s lead in the 68th minute, and a Saints goal in the 83rd minute proved to be too little to late for the home team. Freshman keeper Brendan Watson stayed solid, earning the win for SFU.
It wasn’t as pretty or dominant a win for the Clan as the team would’ve hoped, but after a disappointing loss just days before, any win was welcome.
“We are very happy to bounce back and get the win and the three points,” said Koch. “I still feel that we can play a lot better than we are right now. If we had buried our chances in the first half we wouldn’t have been in a close match at the end.”
Though the team still has much to improve on, it is still easily at the top of the conference: SFU had a 9–1 record at the time of press, second-place Seattle Pacific was sitting at 6–1–2. This ranking speaks volumes about the level of talent on the team, and to its ceiling, if there is one.
The Clan do have some ground to make up in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) rankings, as they dropped from first- to ninth-place in the Div. II poll after their defeat. But the team is built to improve on its win against SMU, and continue its trend back upwards.
Perfection is expected from this team, both internally and from its fans. Perfection is unattainable now, but expect the team to find a way to make up for it.
