Oct. 23, 2010
Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Despite twice leading in the first half, Western Washington University fell, 4-3, to NAIA nationally No.1-ranked Simon Fraser University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game Saturday night at Orca Field on the Whatcom CC campus.
The loss drops Western to 6-6-2 overall and 1-4-1 in the GNAC.
Simon Fraser improved to 14-0-0 overall and stayed atop the GNAC standings at 6-0-0.
Western took the lead less than three minutes into the game as forward Kellan Brown (Jr., Tacoama/Bellarmine Prep) intercepted a clearance and lofted a shot into the net from 35 yards out.
That lead held up until the 20th minute, when the two teams combined to score three times in barely three minutes. Simon Fraser tied the game on a 25-yard blast by Thomas McCole, but just 35 seconds later, the Vikings regained the lead on an own goal. The second lead lasted just 2:34, as in the 23rd minute, the Clansmen tied the game at 2-2 on a low shot by Josh Bennett.
Simon Fraser took a 3-2 lead on a 25-yard free kick by Sang Hwang, then doubled the margin on the stroke of halftime. Joseph Martin won a ball on the edge of his own penalty area, sprinted with the ball roughly 90 yards down the left sideline, then cut toward goal and put a 12-yard shot off the right post and in as the first-half horn sounded.
Western pulled to within a goal at 4-3 on a Gibson Bardsley (Sr., Fall City/Mount Si) score less than a minute into the second half, but despite having a 6-3 advantage in shots after halftime, the Vikings couldn't find an equalizer.
"In the second half, we played really well, I was pleased with the way we battled," said Western coach Travis Connell. "In the first half, we made some mistakes, and a good team like Simon Fraser makes you pay for those mistakes."
The goal for Bardsley was his 14th of the season, and gives him 37 for his career. The latter mark ranks second in school history and is just four behind the school record of 41 held by Peter LaBarge (1989-90).
Western, which completed a four-game home stand, travels to Montana State Billings for a Great Northwest Athletic Conference counter on Thursday, Oct. 28 (12:30 p.m.)
Western Washington vs. Simon FraserDate: 10/23/10 Attendance: 230Goals by Period 1 2 TotalSimon Fraser 4 0 --- 4Western Washington 2 1 --- 3SCORING SUMMARY:WWU - Brown (Unassisted), 2:55SFU - McCole (Basso), 20:03WWU - Own goal, 20:13SFU - Bennett (Unassisted), 22:37SFU - Hwang (Unassisted), 42:32SFU - Martin (Unassisted), 45:00WWU - Bardsley (penalty kick), 45:49Shots: Western Washington 10, Simon Fraser 12Corner kicks: Western Washington1, Simon Fraser 5Fouls: Western Washington 14, Simon Fraser 15Saves: Western Washington 2 (Cohen 2), Simon Fraser 3 (Ozawa 3)
