BURNABY, B.C. – Forward
Connor Glennon capped off his own Senior Night by scoring the game-winning, penalty-kick goal in Simon Fraser's 2-1 overtime victory over Western Washington Saturday in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference finale for both men's soccer teams.
Glennon, one of seven seniors honoured before their final match at the SFU Stadium on Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, B.C., stepped up to the spot in the 99th minute after a handball was called on a WWU defender in the penalty area. On possibly his last chance to score a goal in an SFU uniform, Glennon didn't waste the opportunity. He fired his shot low and to Brandon Locke's left, while the WWU goalkeeper dove right.
Glennon's 26th and final career goal set off an emotional celebration on the pitch and in the crowd, giving himself, goalkeeper
Aidan Bain, midfielder-forward
Bjorn Borren, defender
Chris Guerreiro, and midfielders
Kyle Jones,
Joey Mijaljevic, and
Rahid Rahiem, a triumphant sendoff in their last university contest.
Bain, Jones and Rahiem were on three GNAC title-winning rosters at SFU (2016-18), while Borren, Glennon, Guerreiro and Mijaljevic won two league championships.
"There's no better feeling," exclaimed
Connor Glennon. "It's my Senior Night. It's my last game with the team, I've been here for five years, and what a way to go out, with a win. I couldn't think of anything better to do with the guys than celebrating with them, and spending one last night with them."
"We probably had one of our better games of the season. I think it was just because we really had nothing to lose. We just left it all out there, playing for each other, and I think that's what brought out the best in us."
Connor Glennon. Photo by Paul Yates
Saturday's drama wasn't confined to the end of overtime.
Trailing 1-0 in the final moments, the Vikings extended the match after scoring on a penalty kick of their own with just six seconds left in regulation. Senior Drew Farnsworth slotted his right-footed shot into the left corner of the goal to convert the spot kick.
"I guess it was the epitome of the year for us in totality," said SFU head coach
Clint Schneider. "Being in games where it shouldn't even be a 1-0 game, right? The penalty kick, that play is always a PK against us, but I'll be honest, the guys were pretty disappointed going into overtime. We brought them in and told them to re-focus, and not allow this to defeat them, and not have the last game for the seniors to end this way. It's a big moment to score the goal. There's a lot of pressure, so we're pleased to get the result. We probably deserved to get the result in this game, with the way we played."
The border rivals were scoreless at the half despite SFU owning 17-4 and 6-2 advantages in shots and corner kicks, respectively. The team sent seven shots towards the Vikings' net inside the first 10 minutes.
With the seniors in the spotlight, freshman defender
Simone Masi also had a night to remember. He opened the scoring with a 68th-minute goal.
On a
Connor Glennon corner kick, Masi got past his defender and ran virtually unmarked into the six-yard box to get to his head on the end of the ball. He hit it down and right, and into the net for the first goal of his university career.
Both sides had good chances before Masi finally broke the deadlock.
In the 53rd minute, Bain dove to right to push aside a Farnsworth shot from inside the penalty area. About eight minutes later, Mijaljevic was at the top of the six-yard box but chipped his shot just wide left of the goal post.
In total, SFU outshot WWU 30-11, and was ahead 9-3 in chances on target.
Connor Glennon had 12 of those shots, with four on net. The team also had 10 corner kicks, doubling the visitors' total.
Bain made two saves for the win, his 21st in 36 career games.
Aidan Bain. Photo by Wilson Wong
Six yellow and two red cards were handed out Saturday, all in the second half. SFU had two of the yellows.
After not competing in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, SFU returned to the pitch for the 2021 season, which concluded with Saturday's triumph. The squad finished with overall record of 9-7-0, and 6-4-0 in GNAC play. SFU placed second in the league standings with 18 points, two back of Seattle Pacific, and one ahead of Western Washington.
Schneider looked back on the campaign, which took place in a pandemic.
"This team has had to battle adversity throughout the year, through injuries and having the travel we've had, and it hasn't been easy," said Schneider. "I'm really proud of the way the guys handled themselves. We fought really hard to get ourselves into contention to be in the NCAA tournament. I always think there's a chance for us to get in, and get a result, but I'm proud of the players regardless. It was a good way to end it, that's for sure."
For Schneider, it was hard not to get emotional as he reflected on the team's seniors.
"Kyle (Jones) was part of my first recruiting class. There are guys like Marcello and
Matteo Polisi, and Lucas McIlveen, who are part of this too. Guys who finished school early essentially, and didn't have their senior year," said Schneider. "This is a special group. We knew it when we had them that we were going to win a lot of games. I think if the guys were asked, I think they would have thought they'd have more wins out of this season than we did. They played in some big games, and won us some big games. Some big moments. There are special personalities in the group, guys we really care about a lot, so it is going to be difficult to see them go."
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