BURNABY, BC – Senior forward
Jovan Blagojevic (Coquitlam, BC) scored his conference-leading 17
th goal in 16 games but he was upstaged by a spectacular goal from teammate
Callum Powell, as the Simon Fraser University Clan defeated the University of South Dakota Mines 3-0 in a Great Northwest Conference men's soccer game Saturday on Terry Fox Field.
Powell, a freshman midfielder from Leamington, England, scored a brilliant goal on an individual effort, racing down the wing and weaving through two South Dakota players before launching a shot into the top right-hand corner from 25 yards out. It was Powell's second goal of the season.
The win was Simon Fraser's fifth in a row and improved the Clan to 8-3-2 in the GNAC, 10-4-2 overall. South Dakota Mines fell to 1-16-0 overall.
Blagojevic opened the scoring in the 29
th minute. It was his 17
th goal and moved him into 10
th place on the Clan's all-time list for goals in a season.
Callum Whittaker had the other goal for SFU in the 57
th minute.
"There is a bit of an aura right now with our team that we believe we are going to go out and do whatever it takes to win," said head coach
Alan Koch. "There are going to be ups and downs in a game but they believe they are going to take care of business in the end. We have that kind of confidence right now and you can't put a price on that."
Ranked sixth in the NCAA West Region, Simon Fraser is vying for one of six West Region berths into the single-game elimination, 24-team NCAA Division II national championship tournament. The Clan has a must-win game remaining Saturday Nov. 8 on Terry Fox Field beginning at 7:30 PM against rival Western Washington. The Vikings are 7-5-1 in the GNAC.
The two teams tied 1-1 on Sept. 20 in Bellingham.
Seattle Pacific is all but guaranteed a spot in the postseason with its 14-1-1 overall record and No. 2 ranking in the NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll. Seattle Pacific is ranked second in this week's NCAA West Region Poll while the GNAC conference's second place team, Northwest Nazarene, with a 12-3-1 overall record, is slotted fifth.
"Thankfully we are on a bit of a roll right now so that should give us some confidence against WWU," said Koch. "Every game with them is a battle and we have to do whatever it takes to get that result. We can't play like we did tonight. Tonight we were good at times but pretty average at other times. We will need to maintain big time intensity for the full 90 minutes next week."
SFU Most Goals In A Season28, Ken Whitehead, 1976
25, Jean-Georges Balla, 1982
24, Andrew Corazza, 2004
24, Andrew Corazza, 2002
21, Buzz Parsons, 1975
21, Andrew Corazza, 2005
19, Doug Cooper, 1986
19, Scott Munson, 1990
19, Rob Cirjak, 1991
17,
Jovan Blagojevic , 2014