BURNABY, BC - Extra time solved nothing on Saturday, as the No. 3-ranked SFU Clan men's soccer team (10-0-2, 5-0-2) battled to a 1-1 draw with the Western Washington Vikings (4-4-4, 1-3-3) at Terry Fox Field.

Freshman midfielder Brendan Shaw opened his Clan account with an early second-half marker before the Vikings tied it up on a late penalty call.

For most teams, a single point would be fine result against a tough Vikings squad. Not so for SFU head coach Clint Schneider.

"A tie is not up to our standards here," said the coach. "We have got to be better, and we will be. We traded enough chances to win this game. When we get scored on, especially like that, it's a mistake. It's a really frustrating mistake because we've been playing so well defensively."

SFU captain Ryan Dhillon nearly broke the game open just four minutes in, as the midfielder took a terrific lead pass from Adam Jones and broke down with room the right flank. Racing in on Tyler Visten, Dhillon forced the Vikings goalkeeper to make a terrific stop from in tight.

A couple of other close calls had the Clan knocking on the door, but the just couldn't capitalize.

"We need to be better in our finishing," mused Schneider. "We got enough chances today to get a lead early, but we just weren't able to put the game away like we could have."

SFU did have the shot advantage, at 5-3, though it's interesting to note that the five attempts on goal were the Clan's third lowest first-half total this season.

SFU came out and dictated the early second stanza with speed and excellent ball movement. 16 minutes in, they were finally rewarded.

Shaw, who has been starting recently in place of an ailing Kyle Jones, was the finisher of a wicked aerial relay, as Adam Jones belted a corner into Freddie Gard, who delivered a header towards Shaw in the six-yard box. The freshman midfielder timed his jump perfectly, connecting on a header of his own to put it past Visten.

With 20 minutes remaining, a scary-looking collision between Western Washington fullback Marcus Tinsley and his Clan couterpart Robert Hyams left the SFU man prone on the turf holding his left leg. However, Hyams seemed to be alright after a few minutes, and left the game under his own power.

The Vikings knotted the contest up with just six minutes left in regulation. After Shaw was called for a hand ball in the Clan's box, Western Washington's Brady Hewitt stepped to the spot and delivered, just beating SFU keeper Brandon Watson to the bottom left corner.

One of the silver linings of the contest for SFU was, with Hyams' injury (Schneider confirmed that it didn't look long-term after the match) and a few other Clan starters ailing with various bumps and bruises, it gave Schneider a longer look at some of his reserve players in a very tight contest.

The coach was impressed.

"First off, Andre [Pietramala] is a guy that we brought in to do exactly what he did today – come in and eat up some minutes really effectively when needed, if not start outright," said Schneider. "Another guy that looked really good and provided some great work was [freshman] Erik Morden."

However, Schneider also noted that a full week of rest should be good for his squad in order to get some of his starters back up to form. That reprieve will end next Saturday, October 22, as the Clan will host the Saint Martin's Saints – the opening kickoff is set for 7:00 pm at Terry Fox Field.