Burnaby, BC – With a trip to Costa Rica and their pre-season schedule in the books, the Simon Fraser
University men's soccer team are preparing their non-conference opener on Thursday in California.
"It is an exciting time of year as we begin another run for a GNAC Championship," said head coach Alan Koch. "All of our competitors continue to improve and I see this year being an almighty battle for the conference championship."
In their first season as full members of NCAA Division II in 2012, the Clan were 12-1-1 in conference play and managed a 19-2-1 record overall.
They were able to secure their third consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, and made history as they advanced to the 'Final Four' of the NCAA Division II tournament.
The Clan will try to re-create that success in 2013 and take the next step towards winning an NCAA title.
"It is a tough routine playing two matches every week, but we have the depth in the squad to weather this schedule," said Koch. "Early indicators are that we have a very talented team, we just need to find the right chemistry and get in the flow of NCAA soccer again."
For 2013, the Clan will be retuning five seniors to the pitch as they attempt to re-create the success they had together in past years, and help new recruits get used to collegiate soccer.
"I am excited to see seniors Carlo Basso (Coqtuilam, BC), Lucas Ferritto (Hamilton, ON), Marco Voegeli (Lenzerheide, Switzerland), Juan Sanchez (Armenia, Columbia) and Adam Staschuk (Delta, BC) lead the team by commitment this season, and expect them all to have big years again this year," continued Koch.
The Clan went 1-1 in exhibition play and now turn their attention to non-conference games this week and next.
When SFU returns to conference play, they will once again face stiff competition from Northwest Nazarene, who dealt the Clan their only conference loss of 2012 and Seattle Pacific who was the only GNAC opponent to beat the Clan in 2010.
The Clan went undefeated in 2011 as they captured the GNAC title.
Montana State Billings and Western Washington University have also had a history of tough battles with the Clan, tying the three-time conference champions once each.
SFU will play host to each of these four teams in the latter part of the 2013 season, as they look to continue to dominate conference play again.
In addition to the veterans who are back to lead the Clan through a tough conference schedule, SFU has also added a mixture of strong freshman and experienced transfers to the roster.
"We have managed to bring in some excellent new recruits and I am excited to see them gel with our returning group as the season progresses," continued Koch. "How quickly we come together as a team, will determine how successful we are this year".
The Clan were able to pick up NCAA Division I transfers Glenn Paden (Seattle, WA) from Oregon State as well as Brandon Watson (Victoria, BC) and Scott Shewfelt (London, ON) from Coastal Carolina as well as other local and overseas talent in Magnus Kristensen (Stevenger, Norway), Alex Kleefeldt (Frankfurt, Germany), Johannes Hallman (Lidkoping, Sweden), Chris Merriman (Nanaimo, BC), Tarnvir Bhandal Victoria, BC), Anthony van de Vendel (Coaldale, AB) and Robert Hyams (Brentwood, UK).
GNAC play begins on September 19 following a four-game non-conference schedule for the Clan where they face CSU-East Bay and Holy Names University on the road, before returning to Terry Fox Field on September 12 and 14 to host Hawaii Pacific University and Trinity Lutheran University.
