• FINAL STATS

BURNABY, B.C. – Mamadi Camara scored a goal in each half Saturday to spoil Seattle Pacific's league championship bid as 15th-ranked Simon Fraser won 2-0 to capture the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer title at chilly Terry Fox Field.
 
The Clan (11-2-3) improved to 7-2-2 in GNAC games to move one-point ahead of SPU, clinching their second straight title. Simon Fraser closes out its regular-season schedule on Sunday against Western Washington and will then compete in the NCAA Division II Tournament after earning the league's automatic berth.
 
The Falcons (11-5-1) completed the conference campaign with a 7-4-1 record. They were GNAC champions in 2014 and 2015 before relinquishing the crown to Simon Fraser the next two seasons.
 
The NCAA playoff field announcement is Monday and SPU will likely be left out for the second straight season after making five consecutive tournament appearances from 2011-15.
 
Camara opened the scoring in the 11th minute and then netted an insurance tally with 1:22 left to play, giving him six goals on the year.

 

Coach Mark Collings was pleased that his Falcons were not deflated after surrendering the early goal.
 
"I've seen it work both ways. I've been a part of games where we've scored early and it kind of gets the other team going and bites you a little bit. I've certainly also been a part of games where you score a goal early and it leads to a comfort for you and you can ride it out.
 
"I don't think we ever panicked because they scored early, but at the same time they never really seemed unsettled by much that we did."
 
SPU was shut out for just the second time this season, despite matching their host's 11-shot total. Nine of the Clan's shot were delivered directly on goal, forcing junior goalkeeper Kary Whitney to make seven saves for the Falcons.
 
Simon Fraser's Miguel Hoff registered eight saves en route to his sixth clean sheet.
 
With temperatures near freezing and snow lining the exterior of the field, the teams felt each other out or the opening 10 minutes with neither trying a shot.
 
At 11:00 Simon Fraser scored on the game's first attempt. Magnus Kristsensen dribbled along the left sideline before slipping a pass to the edge of the box, near the end line. Michael North sprinted to the ball and sent a low cross toward the goal that Camara touched into the right side-netting.
 
The Clan stayed on the attack and had back-to-back chances that forced diving saves by Whitney. In the 31st minute Brendan Shaw directed a header toward the right post that sent Whitney fully airborne and parallel to the ground to grab the ball near the upper corner.
 
One minute later Camara spun in the center of the box to fire a low shot, but Whitney quickly dropped to his left to snare the ball at the center of the goal line.
 
"Kary was really good. There were a couple balls that maybe weren't difficult saves, but the fact that he was able to hold the ball was the key to it," Collings described. "He took over this year and really had a great year overall. We didn't always help him out defensively, and certainly he was a big reason why we were able to have the kind of season that we did."
 
The Falcons finally got their attack ignited at the end of the first half. Their first shot, in the 39th minute, came on a 17-yard attempt from a right-side angle by Nik Reierson and it was deflected by Hof. Mori Tsuchiya's follow-up header was blocked out of play for a corner kick.

 

During the final 10 seconds before halftime, SPU's Trevor Lee served a looping ball into the goal area from the right flank that was punched away by Hof. Julian White attempted a quick follow shot on the rebound, but it went straight to the goalkeeper as time expired.
 
"We started to find something there toward the end of the half. We made a couple subs and those guys gave us a really nice lift," said Collings. "We came out with that same group in the second half.
 
"We had a sequence there in the second half where we had three or four corners in a row and their keeper made a good save. Those are times when you have to put one away, and we didn't."
 
The Falcons were awarded four corner kicks during a two-minute span midway through the second half. They led to successive forays that nearly found the mark.
 
Jacob Bohl floated a ball toward the goal from the deep right side that Hof barely reached to tap over the crossbar in the 66th minute. In the 67th, Jess Cayetano fired a hard shot from distance that Hof had to bat away for a corner kick.
 
Camara sealed the outcome at 88:38 with a 12-yard finish to the right side off a pass from Matteo Polisi on the left side.
 
"Simon Fraser played really, really well," said Collings. "They deserved the game tonight. We played hard and had a couple chances, but made one big mistake in the first half and they punished us for it.
 
"It was a good goal, but kind of a missed assignment on our part. Then they got the goal late when we were pushing forward."
 
 
NCAA MEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, November 4, 2017
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C.
 
(#15) Simon Fraser 2, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Scoring – 1, SF, Mamadi Camara (Michael North, Magnus Kristensen), 11:00; 2, SF, Camara (Matteo Polisi), 88:38.
 
                       1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific        0   0  --    0
Simon Fraser           1   1  --    2
 
Shots – SPU 11, SF 11.
Shots on Goal – SPU 8, SMU 9.
Saves – SPU 7 (Kary Whitney), SF 8 (Miguel Hof).
Corner Kicks -- SPU 6, SF 4.
Fouls – SPU 7, SF 9.
Offsides – SPU 0, SF 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 11-5-1, 7-4-1 GNAC
Simon Fraser 11-2-3, 7-2-2 GNAC