Box Score Nampa, ID – The Simon Fraser University men's earned a much needed win on the road Thursday, defeating Northwest Nazarene 1-0.

The Clan entered the match as the underdogs, hoping to upset the Crusaders who currently rank fifth in the West Region rankings, three spots above Simon Fraser in a tie for eighth.

"Tonight the team showed the most character that I have seen from a team in a long long time," said head coach Alan Koch. "It was a true team effort on the road. Jovan [Blagojevic] scored a world class goal and the team came together and played for each other after Callum [Whittaker] was harshly sent off."

As has been the story for the majority of the season, the Clan struck first and early, taking a 1-0 lead only eight minutes into the game. Captain Jovan Blagojevic (Coquitlam, BC) improved on his conference leading goal-tally, sailing a 35-yard shot past the NNU keeper for his 13^th goal of 2014.

Despite the early goal, Simon Fraser's offence hit a road-block in the Crusaders' defence, as the home side was able to hold the Clan, who have averaged 19 per game this season, to only ten shots in the game.

Clan goalkeeper Brandon Watson (Victoria,BC) made two saves on the night to preserve the shutout and help Simon Fraser earn three points on the road as the Clan's lone goal held through the remainder of the first half, despite pressure by the Crusaders throughout the period.

In the 53^rd minute, however, defender Callum Whittaker took his second yellow card of the game, and as a result was ejected from the match, forcing the Clan to play the final 37 minutes down a man.

Simon Fraser united together following the ejection, turning away seven NNU shots in the final portion of the game, to even the score against the Crusaders who won their last meeting 3-2 with eight seconds left in the match.

Ryan Dhillon (Surrey, BC) had a game-high three shots on the night, two of which were on goal.

With the win the Clan improve to 7-4-2 on the season and 5-3-2 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play and will be back in action Saturday as they seek another important win, travelling to Montana State University – Billings for a 3:00 p.m. game.

In their last meeting the teams played to a 3-3 draw, so both sides will be hungry for a win in the dying weeks of the conference schedule. The Clan currently rank one position below the Yellowjackets in the GNAC standings.