BURNABY, BC – Senior forward Jovan Blagojevic (Coquitlam, BC) scored his conference-leading 18^th goal of the season four minutes into the second half to propel Simon Fraser University to a 2-0 win over Western Washington University Vikings and a likely berth into the NCAA Division II national championship tournament.
 
Simon Fraser is ranked No. 6 in this week's NCAA West Region Poll. The top six teams in the NCAA West Region rankings make the tournament. Selections will be made on Monday. The tournament bracket will be released Monday, Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m. Pacific via webcast on NCAA.com.

 "We should feel very confident we are in the tournament and wherever we have to go we will embrace that challenge," said Clan head coach Alan Koch.  "We can't say with 100 percent certainty that we are in but it's highly, highly likely we are in. We were told if we win we are in."

The win was Simon Fraser's sixth in a row and improved the Clan to 9-3-2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and 11-4-2 overall. Simon Fraser is 10-2 in its last 12 games.

The Vikings, No.8 in this week's NCAA Division II West Region rating, completed the season 9-8-1 overall and 7-9-1 in conference play, winning seven of their last 10 games. The defeat eliminated WWU from any hope of a national tournament berth.

After a scoreless first half that included just one on-target shot by either team, junior midfielder Alex Rowley (Maple Ridge, BC) set-up Blagojevic's goal to open the second half, sending a cross into the box. The senior striker corralled the ball and then fired a low shot past goalkeeper Keegan Rogers from 10 yards out.

On the second SFU goal, midfielder Ryan Dhillon striped a Vikings defender of the ball and then raced into the penalty area to score an unassisted goal in the 67^th minute.
SFU had a 24-3 advantage in shots, including a 16-1 margin after halftime.

"I thought the first half we were the better team but we played nervous and they did as well," added Koch. "We picked it up in the second half and Jovan scored a big goal and Ryan did too. It was two big time goals from two big time players and that was the difference tonight."

There are six West Region berths into the single-game elimination NCAA Division II national championship tournament. The tournament consists of 35 teams from eight regions.

"All the hard work has paid off," said Koch. "A short while ago nobody believed in this group. We dropped out of the national poll for the first time in a few years and we were close to .500. We talked as a team and said let's not be that team. It's been many, many years since an SFU team dropped below .500. From that point on you could feel the confidence grow and here we are with smiles on our faces."

After finishing in the top four in the conference the last eight years, Seattle Pacific University Falcons earned its first regular season GNAC title since 2006. Seattle Pacific is all but guaranteed a spot in the postseason with its 15-1-1 overall record. Seattle Pacific is ranked second in this week's NCAA West Region Poll while the GNAC conference's second place team, Northwest Nazarene, with a 13-3-1 overall record, is slotted fifth and should also have secured a post-season berth.

SFU Most Goals In A Season
28, Ken Whitehead, 1976
25, Jean-Georges Balla, 1982
24, Andrew Corazza, 2004
24, Andrew Corazza, 2002
21, Buzz Parsons, 1975
21, Andrew Corazza, 2005
19, Doug Cooper, 1986
19, Scott Munson, 1990
19, Rob Cirjak, 1991
18, Jovan Blagojevic , 2014