Simon Fraser University will find out if it has done enough to earn a berth into the upcoming NCAA Division II national men’s soccer championships.
The varsity Clan eliminated Western Washington from the NCAA post season, defeating the Vikings 2-0 on Jovan Blagojevic’s Great Northwest conference-leading 18th goal of the season on Saturday.
After a scoreless first half, Blagojevic scored the winner four minutes into the restart.
Clan midfielder Ryan Dhillon scored SFU’s second goal of the game unassisted in the 67th minute.
The win was SFU’s sixth in a row and 10th in its last dozen games. The Clan improved its third-place conference record to 9-3-2 and 11-4-2 overall.
The Clan was ranked sixth overall in last week’s West Region poll. The top six teams in the west earn invites to the 24-team NCAA Div. II national championship tournament.
“We should feel very confident we are in the tournament and wherever we have to go we will embrace that challenge,” said SFU head coach Alan Koch in a Clan press release. “We can’t say with 100 per cent certainty that we are in but it’s highly likley we are in. We were told if we win, we are in.”
The final selection was made late Monday (after NOWholiday deadlines).
“A short while ago, nobody believed in this group. We dropped out of the national poll for the first time in a few years and we were close to .500. We talked as a team and said, ‘Let’s not be that team.’ It’s been many, many years since an SFU team dropped below .500. From that point on you could feel the confidence grow and here we are with smiles on our faces.”
Regional No. 2-ranked Seattle Pacific earned its first Great Northwest conference title since 2006, finishing first overall with a 12-1-1 record.
Conference runner-up Northwest Nazarene, which last week handed Seattle Pacific its only loss of the season, finished with a 13-3-1 overall record.
Both Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene should also earn a trip to the nationals.
