San Bernardino, CA – And so it begins.

The SFU Clan men's soccer team accomplished their primary goal in their NCAA season opener on Thursday night, taking down the Cal State San Bernardino Coyotes 3-0. Sophomore forward Mamadi Camara bagged a goal and assist, while Pascal Schmidt and Adam Jones also scored for Simon Fraser. In goal, senior keeper Brandon Watson bagged his first clean sheet of the campaign.

"That was exactly what we needed in terms of the start to our season," said Clan head coach Clint Schneider. "Getting a win under our belts is huge for the morale and the attitude of these guys going forward."

The Clan dictated play from start to finish, opening the scoring just 12 minutes into the contest.

Off a corner kick from Kyle Jones, midfielder Brendan Shaw corralled the ball in the box before dishing to Schmidt around 12 yards out. The center back showed off some impressive footwork, beating a defender before slotting the ball behind Coyotes keeper Jacob Huber.

"It was a great pass from Brendan to find Pascal, who has some really quick feet for a center back," said Schneider. "He made a great move to find himself some space, and then made it count."

A terrific performance from SFU's backline of Schmidt, Magnus Kristensen, Robert Hyams and newcomer Andre Pietramala kept San Bernardino at bay until the Clan could strike again.

"Honestly, Brandon Watson didn't have to do much today, because our backline was excellent in front of him. Really great job by those guys all night shutting down the Coyotes," noted Schneider.

20 minutes into the second stanza, SFU's leading scorer from last season, Adam Jones, got on the board. The sophomore midfielder did well to break in from the left and beat Huber with a quick shot to the right.

With just under 10 minutes remaining in the contest, a tactical change allowed for the third SFU goal. Camara made his impact felt again, using his impressive speed to strip a Coyotes defender 30 yards out from the San Bernardino goal before breaking in on Huber and making no mistake from in close.

"Mamadi was probably our most impressive player tonight, if I had to pick just one," said Schneider. "All in all, though, this was about as good as we could have hoped for in our first game of the season. Hopefully, it will help us set the tone for our game against Pomona, and the season."

As Schneider alluded to, the Clan will be looking to ride the momentum into this weekend's contest against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos, the NCAA Division II National Runners-Up in 2015. SFU and Cal Poly are set to square off on Saturday, September 3, with kickoff set for 7:00 pm at Pomona's Kellogg Field.