By bouncing the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders 3-1 last week, the Simon Fraser University women’s soccer team assured themselves a spot at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships.
A good thing too, since the Burnaby Mountain squad is hosting the event.
SFU got goals from midfielders Jenna Baxter and Katelyn Erhardsen in the first 12 minutes to stake out a nice lead, en route to clinching the program’s first-ever appearance at the GNAC tournament.
“They knew what was at stake – the girls were playing for a lot, and they came out the way that you would hope for with so much on the line,” said SFU head coach Annie Hamel.
Baxter opened the scoring just five minutes from opening whistle, stealing the ball from a Nazarene defender and whipping home a quick shot. Seven minutes later, Erhardsen took a pass from Emma Pringle along the left side and hit the low corner.
Adding an insurance goal late in the contest was Burnaby product Christina Dickson.
SFU improved to 7-5-0 in conference action.
Now they set their sites on the four-team tourney, which begins Thursday with semifinals, at 4 and 7 p.m., at Terry Fox Field. The hosts face a difficult task, drawing GNAC regular season champion Western Washington in the opener.
The championship final goes 1 p.m. on Saturday.
