By: Marie-Line Petit
Box Score
Burnaby, BC - The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team finished their regular season in wet and windy conditions on Sunday night on Burnaby Mountain, earning a 3-0 victory over the Western Washington University Vikings.
The Clan clinched their third straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championship last week, and are currently ranked first in the West Region.
“At this stage in the season it's not really important how you play but the result that matters,” said head coach Alan Koch. “It's great to finish the season with a 3-0 victory over a quality WWU squad.”
SFU will find out what lies ahead of them on the NCAA division II men's soccer selection show, which will air on Monday at 4:00 p.m. on NCAA.com. The show will reveal who the Clan will face in the NCAA National Tournament.
When the tournament begins this week, the Clan will be the first international school to compete for the NCAA division II men's soccer title.
“Thankfully we got out of the game with limited injuries and battled through some pretty adverse weather conditions. Now we look forward to seeing how the NCAA National Tournament bracket comes out tomorrow,” finished Koch.
Only 10 minutes into the game, a Justin Wallace (Kamloops, BC) strike found the back of the net to give SFU a 1-0 lead early on over the Vikings.
10 minutes later, senior Michael Winter (Vancouver, BC) made it 2-0 for the Clan when he booted a rebound past the Vikings goalkeeper.
The 2-0 score held up until the 86th minute when another senior, John Hodnett (Wolverhampton, UK) secured the win for SFU as they took a 3-0 lead when he scored on a rebound off the goalkeeper.
JD Blakley (Saskatoon, SK) earned his fourth shutout of the year, as he made two saves in the contest.
With the win, the Clan finish off the regular season with an overall record of 16-1-1 and a conference record of 12-1-1.
