Box Score Burnaby, BC - The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team remained undefeated on the young 2013 season and claimed a victory in their home opener on Thursday night, defeating the visiting Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors 2-1 on Terry Fox Field in front of a crowd of over 400 Clan fans.
"The energy from the fans was great," said Head Coach
Alan Koch. "There was a lot of SFU pride on display. The guys that started the game played great but unfortunately we went a goal down. They scored on a great free kick, it's one of their biggest strengths. I give our guys a lot of credit. They dealt with the adversity and stepped up to the plate. The guys who started the game kept playing well and the guys who came in off the bench took it to a whole other level."
Things went the visitors way in the early going as Hawaii Pacific opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a goal from Eric Kernsies off a free kick to make it 1-0.
The score remained that way for just over 20 minutes.
In the 33rd minute, immediately after entering the game,
Jovan Blagojevic (Coquitlam, BC) tied things up.
Blagojevic scored the game tying goal on a header from
Colin Jacques (Richmond, BC).
Just before the half the Clan took the lead when Jacques scored in the 43rd minute on a goal that would prove to be the game winner. Blagojevic and
Carlo Basso (Coquitlam, BC) were each credited with an assist each on the play.
"I gotta thank my teammates," said Jacques. "They really tired out the starters in the early going. We came in with fresh legs. We were able to take it to them and score a couple goals."
The Clan had the bulk of the chances in the second half and although they could not find the back of the net again, the one goal lead would hold up as SFU won 2-1.
Brandon Watson (Victoria, BC) got his first start in net for the Clan, making three saves in his first SFU victory.
With the win, the Clan move to 3-0 in non-conference play.
"It was a slow start but a good team effort," said Clan senior
Marco Voegeli (Lenzerheide, Switzerland). "We trust each other and played some good football at the end. The crowd was amazing and they were really the 12th man out there tonight."
SFU will wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Saturday at Terry Fox Field when they host the Trinity Lutheran Eagles at 3:30 p.m. Admission is free.
