By: Jade Richardson
Box Score
Los Angeles, CA - The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament, following a strong performance in their 5-0 victory over the California Baptist University Lancers.
"Amazing performance by the lads tonight," said Head Coach
Alan Koch. "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 and we look forward to playing LA on Saturday."
Coming off a loss in their final Great Northwest Athletic Conference match, the 2013 GNAC Champions charged out of the gates.
Freshman defender
Alexander Kleefeldt (Frankfurt, Germany) opened the scoring in the fifteenth minute with his third goal of the season from 25-yards out, beating the goalkeeper into the left side of the net, to give the Clan early momentum.
It was
Alex Rowley (Maple Ridge, BC) who was the story of the match, as the recently crowned Great Northwest Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year scored his first two goals of the season in the game.
Rowley, who had six assists in regular season play but had yet to hit the back of the net, found a
Carlo Basso (Coquitlam, BC) pass in the 18-yard box to put the Clan up by two for his first goal of the night in the 36th minute.
SFU kept the train rolling, as 2012 All-American
Ryan Dhillon (North Delta, BC) put away his first of the post-season with just over three minutes remaining in the half, before Rowley netted his second of the night just moments before the buzzer sounded to end the half, giving the Clan a commanding 4-0 lead heading into the locker room.
Colin Jaques (Richmond, BC) added the final goal of the match midway through the second half.
The Clan used two goalkeepers in the shutout as
Brandon Watson (Victoria, BC) got the start and the win, making two saves in just under 69 minutes of action.
Toscanny Pandu-Oesman (North Delta, BC) played the final 21 minutes of the match, also making two saves.
With the win, the Clan improve their record to 16-2-1 on the season, and advance to the next round of the NCAA Championship.
The second round will be played on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. against the top ranked team in the NCAA's West Region, California State University - Los Angeles.
