It was quite the week for the SFU men’s soccer team. Coming off the high of their double-overtime win against Seattle Pacific, the Clan capped off their regular season with plenty of hardware.
The team swept the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Awards, including Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year, to go along with their fourth-straight GNAC title.
Then, the team blew out its first-round competition at the NCAA Div. II national tournament in Los Angeles.
Junior midfielder Chris Bargholz earned Player of the Year honours, improving on his second-team all-star nod from a year ago; it also marked the third-straight year a Clan athlete has won the award. Sophomore Alex Rowley captured Defensive Player of the Year honours while defender Magnus Kristensen was named Freshman of the Year.
Head coach Alan Koch won Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season, having won it each year his team has been in the NCAA.
But, the Clan are still in the hunt for that one trophy that’s eluded them so far: a Division II championship. They started the chase off on the right foot however, with a dominant 5–0 win against the California Baptist University Lancers in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
SFU scored early and often in the match, putting up four goals on the Lancers before the first half ended. It was freshman defender Alexander Kleefeldt who opened the scoring on a rocket from almost 30 yards out — but it was Rowley who was the star of the contest.
Entering the win-or-go-home game with no goals on the season, he picked a good time to score his first two tallies of the year. He scored the Clan’s second and fourth goals of the game, the latter coming just moments before the first half came to a close.
His two goals sandwiched a Ryan Dhillon tally, as SFU cruised to a four-goal lead after 45 minutes. Sophomore Colin Jacques, the Clan’s leading point-getter, scored the fifth and final goal of the game midway through the second half, which was little more than a 45-minute formality.
“Amazing performance by the lads tonight,” said head coach Alan Koch after the game. “The desire and the willingness to work for each other was evident for the full 90 minutes. I am incredibly proud of this group of players.”
The win pushes the Clan to the second round of the Div. II tournament, and one step closer to that one last piece of hardware, a National Championship.
