BURNABY, BC – For the second game in a row, Simon Fraser University played giant killers.
Last game the Clan upset No. 7 ranked Seattle Pacific 1-0. Tonight they took down No. 12 and conference-leading Northwest Nazarene, 2-0, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game on Terry Fox Field.
Freshman
Adam Jones' penalty kick in the 21
st minute was the winner and sophomore striker
Michael North iced the game in the 53
rd minute to lift the Clan into a second place tie in the conference with Seattle Pacific, both with 3-1-2 records, and both teams trailing NNU (4-1-1).
Jones now has four goals, tied with
Mamadi Camara, for the team lead.
"The guys are starting to believe in how good a side they are and figuring out different ways to win games," said Clan head coach
Clint Schneider. "It doesn't always have to be pretty but tonight we found a way to create chances and finished them off."
"Any game we go into, no matter which team it is, and what their record is, our guys are good enough to get a result, certainly at home," said Schneider.
Simon Fraser outshot the Crusaders, 11-5 and managed to ice the win with 7:47 gone in the second half. Nico Espinoza played a ball into
Robert Hyams overlapping on the wing and Hyams crossed it into North, who scored on a header for his second of the season.
"We didn't feel threatened at all as the game went along and that is a credit to the way they played," continued Schneider. "It's exciting to be on a run with these guys because you can sense the change in the Lockerroom and when a team starts believing in itself like this it is a fun ride."
Simon Fraser is now unbeaten in four games, having won its last three contests, after starting the season with one win in its first six games.
Saturday, the Clan hosts Concordia University, who sits in fourth place in the conference. Matt Paine, Concordia University's leading scorer, has five goals this season and is second in the conference in scoring.
Ryan Foo made three saves in net for the Crusaders.
Clan goalkeeper
Brandon Watson recorded his third straight shutout, stopping five shots.
--@SFUClan--
