Oct. 3, 2010
Box Score
BURNABY, BC - A sterling defensive performance fell short as Western Washington University lost 1-0 to league-leading Simon Fraser University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer game Sunday afternoon at Terry Fox Field.
The Vikings dropped to 3-4-2 overall and 0-3-1 in GNAC action with their third straight loss following a five-game unbeaten streak.
Simon Fraser remained unbeaten at 8-0-0 and atop the conference standings at 3-0-0. It was first time this season that the Clansmen had not won by two or more goals.
The game's only goal came with four seconds left in the first half when Simon Fraser's Thomas McCole scored for the first time this season off a pass from John Hodnett.
"It was a lapse of concentration on us and we didn't finish off the half which was unfortunate because the other 89 minutes and 56 seconds we played really good defense, our best defensive performance of the year," said Western coach Travis Connell.
"We really stymied what I think is probably the best offense we've played against this season. We challenged the team to play defense, and they came out and did a great job of that. We made one mistake and a good team capitalized on it."
The Clansmen had a 19-6 advantage in shots and a 4-3 edge in corner kicks.
Connell praised the play of Justin Moore (So., Port Orchard/South Kitsap) and Thomas Kauffman (Sr., Evanston, IL).
"They were fantastic today," Connell said. "They (Simon Fraser) had great flank play and a lot of speed and Justin was a rock and it was very difficult to get past him, and Thomas read the game very well back there as well."
Western had a couple of good scoring chances. In the 50th minute a header by Kellan Brown (Jr., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) hit the crossbar and with just seconds remaining in the game a header by Andrew Weishaar (Fr., Puyallup) nearly found the net. Oscar Jimenez (Sr., Mount Vernon) set up both of those opportunities.
Goalkeeper Christian Warman (Sr., Sedro-Woolley) made seven saves for the Vikings. Simon Fraser goalie Hide Ozawa had three saves in posting his sixth shutout of the campaign.
"This was a big step forward for us, playing the right way," said Connell. "If we can keep our chins up, and continue putting in performances like this, we will be okay."
-The loss snapped a two-game winning series winning streak for Western, which trails 13-17-1 overall.
Western next travels to Saint Martin's on Wednesday (3 p.m.) for a GNAC contest.
Western Washington vs. Simon FraserDate: 10/3/10 Attendance: 200Goals by Period 1 2 TotalWestern Washington 0 0 --- 0Simon Fraser 1 0 --- 1SCORING SUMMARY:SFU - McCole (Hodnett), 44:56Shots: Western Washington 6, Simon Fraser 19Corner kicks: Western Washington 3, Simon Fraser 4Fouls: Western Washington 12, Simon Fraser 14Saves: Western Washington 7 (Warman 7), Simon Fraser 3 (Ozawa 3)
