BURNABY, BC – The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team is headed to the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament and a first-round matchup with Northwest Nazarene University Crusaders this Thursday, at 3:00 PM on the campus of Seattle Pacific University and the Clan's Jovan Blagojevic was unanimously selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Player of the Year it was announced today.

Seattle Pacific will be hosting the first two rounds of the West Regional at Interbay Stadium in Seattle, Wash. 

The NNU Crusaders (14-3-1 overall, 11-2-1 in the GNAC) are seeded fourth in the West Region while Simon Fraser (11-4-2, 9-3-2) is ranked fifth. The winner between SFU and NNU will play No. 1 seed Seattle Pacific University Falcons on Saturday at 7:00 PM. The Falcons earned a first-round bye along with second seed Azusa Pacific.

The tournament bracket is here: http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/soccer-men/d2

The NCAA West Region information page is located here: http://www.spufalcons.com/sports/2014/11/10/MSOC_1110140450.aspx

The LiveStats link for all games at Seattle Pacific is here: http://www.sidearmstats.com/spu/msoc/

West Region Rankings
1.             Seattle Pacific  (15-1-2)
2.             Azusa Pacific  (14-2-0)
3.             Cal State L.A.  (13-3-1)
4.             Northwest Nazarene  (14-3-1)
5.             Simon Fraser  (11-4-2)
6.             UC San Diego  (9-4-5)

"We are ecstatic to be in the tournament after how we started but we managed to turn things around and we are on a roll," said Clan head coach Alan Koch. "We have been playing win-and-survive for many weeks now and nothing changes for us entering the tournament. We have been playing playoff soccer for the past few weeks just to get into the tournament."

Simon Fraser was 2-2-2 back on September 27 after a 3-2 overtime loss to Northwest Nazarene, one of two games the teams have played this season. Since then the Clan has won 9 of its last 11 games.

Simon Fraser has advanced to the NCAA tournament Final Four in each of the past two seasons. Last year the Clan was seeded fourth in the West Region entering the tournament.

"Our guys are not going to be nervous having been through this before," said Koch. "We are going to tap into our experience and bring a positive and confident mind-set to the game Thursday."

The Clan captured a 1-0 road victory on October 23^rd against Northwest Nazarene, part of the team's current six game winning streak. The Crusaders are riding a four game winning streak.

The Crusaders average 2.06 goals per game and have four players who have scored five or more goals this season, including forwards Freddy Razo, with 12, and Erik Anderson, with 10. Razo was honored as Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer Offensive Player of the Week today after scoring all three goals in Northwest Nazarene's 3-0 win at Montana State Billings on Saturday. Razo's effort on Saturday made him the No. 2 goal-scorer in the GNAC.

The Clan, on the other hand, averages 2.41 goals per game but has only one player who has scored more than five goals this season. Blagojevic, a senior striker from Coquitlam, ranks first in the GNAC and seventh in the nation in goals scored with 18. It is the 10^th highest goal scoring season in Clan history.

Simon Fraser junior midfielder Alex Rowley (Maple Ridge, BC) led the conference in assists with nine.

In the All-Conference teams announced Monday, Blagojevic was joined on the GNAC All-Conference First Team by senior defender Alex Kleefeldt (Frankfurt, Germany). Senior defender Joel Malouf (Kelowna, BC) and goalkeeper Brandon Watson (Victoria, BC) were named to the Second Team. Sophomore defender Robert Hyams (Brentwood, UK) received Honorable Mention.

The NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Committee announced the field of 35 teams for the 2014 Division II Men's Soccer Championship today. Two to six teams were selected from each of the eight regions. 

The semifinals and final will be played December 4 and 6 in Louisville, Kentucky as a part of the 2014 Division II National Championship Fall Festival. The Festival is hosted by Bellarmine University.
For more information regarding the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship, log on to http://www.ncaa.com.

SFU Most Goals In A Season
28, 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
18, Jovan Blagojevic , 2014