For a third straight season, the Simon Fraser University men’s soccer team are kings of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Certainly it’s been true of games played at Terry Fox Field for the past four years, improving to 30-0-4 over that span.
The squad locked up its third GNAC championship on Saturday, blanking St. Martin’s University 3-0.
Ranked No. 1 in NCAA Div. 2, the Clan applied plenty of pressure in its pursuit of their 14th victory of the season (8-0 in conference play). Mamadi Camara opened the scoring with his eighth of the season, burying a cross from Cariboo Hill alum Rahid Raheim in the 13-minute mark. It was followed a minute later by Matteo Polisi’s 30-yard blast that caught the St. Martin’s keeper by surprise.
Polisi, who leads the GNAC in scoring, upped his total with his second of the day just five minutes later, capitalizing on a chance inside the box to complete the offence.
It was the 17th goal of the season for the sophomore.
“I thought our first 30 minutes were very good,” remarked SFU coach Clint Schneider. “Our first goal and the pattern of movement was exactly what we’ve been working on.”
At the other end of the pitch, Burnaby native Luciano Trasolini locked up his 10th shutout of the season, stopping the lone shot he faced. He entered the week tied for second in the NCAA Div. 2 for shutouts.
As well as third straight GNAC title, it was the team’s seventh in nine years since migrating to the NCAA league.
SFU, which leads the NCAA with a 3.71 goals-per-game average with 52 so far this season, will wind down the regular season with a pair of home matches, including Thursday, 7 p.m. against Seattle Pacific.
Their final game before the conference playoffs goes Oct. 27, 7 p.m. against Northwest Nazarene.
