PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team is off to the Elite Eight, after a thrilling 2-1 victory over the second ranked team in the West Region, the Grand Canyon University Antelopes on Thursday night.
"We played a very good first half tonight," said head coach Alan Koch. "I think we played well enough that we could have been up by two or three at the half. Grand Canyon is a quality team though and they came back in the second half. We showed some class late to score that goal. It wasn't our best performance in the second half but at this stage of the season, we'll take it."
The Clan appeared to be in control in the first half, and although they outplayed the Antelopes, they could not take the lead until the 42nd minute.
Matt Besuschko (Port Moody, BC) scored it for SFU, knocking the ball into the back left of the net off a Juan Sanchez (Armenia, Columbia) corner kick.
Grand Canyon answered back in the second half, tying the game on a penalty kick in the 66th minute.
JD Blakley (Sasktoon, SK) came out to challenge Antelope forward Saeed Robinson and fouled the Grand Canyon striker, resulting in a penalty kick.
Robinson made no mistake on the free kick, beating Blakley and knotting the match at one.
With time winding down, the Clan took back the lead.
In the 87th minute, Chris Bargholz (Fuessen, Germany) crossed the ball in and Carlo Basso (Coquitlam, BC) finished with a header that beat the GCU keeper on the left side of the net to get the lead back for SFU.
"Justin (Wallace) made a great play in our own half," said Basso. "He got the ball up to Chris (Bargholz) who put a beautiful ball in to me and I didn't really have to do much to be honest, just put it in the back of the net."
That would prove to be the game winner, as the Clan defeated the Antelopes by one to advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday.
The Clan will remain in Phoenix for Saturday's match when they face Incarnate Word at 6:00 p.m. PST with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
