The SFU men’s soccer team played host to the Concordia Cavaliers on Saturday October 10. The game can only be described like the weather that night: dreary. Despite SFU shooting 31 times on net, they couldn’t muster a single goal, and the game ended 0–0 after overtime.
“Quite some good stuff at times, and our tempo at times was good enough,” explained head coach Clint Schneider, referring to the match. “We broke them down, created a lot of chances, [but] couldn’t finish. That’s been the story of this year [. . .]. When you play teams like Concordia, who are looking for a chance, those games sometimes go the other way.”
Indeed, the Clan were able to break them down at times, and early on Mamadi Camara was stopped point blank by the Concordia keeper. The first half was marked by SFU’s domination of possession, but they weren’t able to turn it into goals. James Fraser had a shot cleared off the line, and that was really it. The vast majority of them were blocked or went wide of the target.
“Sometimes it takes that extra bit of quality,” said Schneider, explaining the lack of finish on the night. “You need to take a deep breath, just to relax, and pass it into the corner. We didn’t have that tonight. Hopefully we’re saving them for later. We’re halfway through the GNAC schedule, and we’re right there.”
The second half was more of the same. Calvin Opperman’s free header went just wide of the net, and a couple of minutes later Michael North’s chance went just wide. It could have easily been 2–0 there, and on most nights for this team, it would have been. Ten minutes from the end, Opperman had the best chance for either team, a point blank shot from inside the six that sailed over the net.
In overtime you could tell that the Clan were pushing for the game winner. SFU had a great chance in the first minute for the win, and Michael North caused havoc down the right wing. He was constantly beating his man and getting low crosses in. During the overtime session, he was hauled down in the box in what looked like a penalty, but it wasn’t called.
Despite the scoreless draw, SFU had a terrific homestand. They didn’t concede a single goal, and won three of the four games. “We played good football today. Just have to finish chances, that’s what it’s about,” explained Schneider.
The team’s next home game will be on Thursday the 22nd when they play the Montana State Billings.
