BURNABY, B.C. – Simon Fraser lost 3-0 at Western Washington Thursday night in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer opener for both teams. Claire Potter (24th minute) and Emily Rice (39th) scored first-half goals before Morgan Manalili (47th) added another just after the mid-game break.
 
On the opening goal, Potter knocked a ball out of SFU goalkeeper Sarah Loewen's hands at the top of the six-yard box, and tapped it into the net for the game winner.
 
Rice converted an SFU turnover for the second goal. Manalili stole the ball for the Vikings, and moved towards the penalty area. She delivered a pass to Rice, who placed her shot inside the right goalpost to make it 2-0. On the third goal, Sophie Bearden Croft made a pass to Ellie Busik at the top of the 18-yard box. Busik volleyed the ball to Manalili, who corralled it and scored.
 
The Red Leafs (1-2-2, 0-1-0 GNAC) never stopped battling, and created several good scoring opportunities on the night.
 
Down 1-0 in the 32nd minute, freshman midfielder Chelsea Crocq stole the ball from a Vikings defender outside the penalty area, dribbled into the left side of the box and chipped a shot high over the top left corner.
 
With just under four minutes remaining in the half, freshman forward Kaylese Callender fired a beautiful cross from the right sideline to the top of the six-yard box. Freshman forward Kaiden Sherwood was there but well defended, and pushed the ball over the net.
 
About a minute later, Sherwood had a shot from the right side of the penalty area about 12 yards out, but it was deflected out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick, the ball bounced to sophomore defender Katie Richardson, who drove a shot from around the penalty kick spot towards the goal but it was turned aside.
 

In the second half with about 33 minutes left in the game, Crocq stole a bad pass inside the WWU penalty area and got the ball past goalkeeper Claire Henninger, but a defender recovered to a make partial clearance. Junior forward Giuliana Zaurrini intercepted that pass, moved to her right and fired a shot towards the Viking net but sent it high.
 
Crocq finished the contest with an SFU-best three shots, while Sherwood and Zaurrini had two each. Loewen made eight stops for the Red Leafs. Western Washington had an 11-4 edge in shots on target, while SFU had the advantage in corner kicks, 4-3.
 
SFU's next game will be on Saturday at Saint Martin's. The kickoff in Lacey, Washington, is scheduled for 1 p.m. The next Red Leafs home game at SFU Stadium is on Sept. 29 against Seattle Pacific. Season passes are on sale now for $68 and can be purchased here.
 
For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics.

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