Simon Fraser University's football team braved wind, rain and fog to face the Western Oregon Wolves, but in the end, the Clan came up short, losing 30-9 to their American opponents.
After kicking off the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season with wins against Humboldt State and Central Washington on the road, the Clan were back at home on Saturday for their home opener. While the weather definitely didn't provide ideal playing conditions, it was a number of penalties that really beat down the SFU men.
"The penalties we took and the response to some guys having to miss plays wasn't the image of Clan football," said head coach Dave Johnson in a media release. "Western Oregon is a good enough team that if we make mistakes we're going to get a result like we did today."
The Clan took 11 penalties throughout the game, costing them 117 yards overall. While they managed to score three field goals, the Clan failed to score any touchdowns, which hasn't happened since 2010 - once again against Western Oregon.
Scoring kicked off with an opening field goal for SFU scored by first-year player Chad Heerspink, which came at the end of a 70-yard drive.
The Wolves matched things up, making it three-all. SFU quickly countered Western Oregon with another field goal, but once again the Wolves fought back, scoring two more field goals by the end of the first half.
In the second half things didn't improve much for the Clan. They struggled to get anywhere offensively and only managed a third field goal. The Wolves raced past the SFU men, adding three touchdowns and another field goal to widen the gap.
Despite the loss, SFU is still in strong standing in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. With a 2-1 record so far, the Clan have a good chance of taking down Utah opponents Dixie State College Red Storm, who have yet to win a game.
