Sunday, November 24, 2013

DENVER, Colo. - Simon Fraser never looked back after a goal from sophomore Ryan Dhillon within the first 10 minutes of an NCAA DII quarterfinal match against Regis University, cruising to a 5-0 victory Sunday afternoon on the Regis campus. The victory pushed the Clan to the Final Four for the second consecutive season.

Dhillon got SFU off to a hot start, notching his second goal of the postseason and ninth overall of 2013 in the eighth minute of the match.

SFU (18-2-2) doubled its lead with less than five minutes before half time. Colin Jacques set up a corner kick and curled in a cross that was one-touched into the net by Alex Rowley.

Despite outshooting Regis (14-4-1) by just one in the first half, the Clan were efficient as they only took four total shots and scored on two, while the Rangers managed just three shots.

SFU refused to relax coming out of the break, as Dhillon got to work by beating a defender down the right side of the field in the 52nd minute. He whipped in a cross to the foot of Carlo Basso, who drilled home the Clan's third goal of the game to give his team a commanding 3-0 advantage early in the second half.

Things fell apart for Regis down the stretch, as Alexander Kleefeldt and Jovan Blagojevic tacked on a pair of goals in the final seven minutes to extend the score to 5-0. On the game, SFU outshot Regis 16-8 and won six corners compared with the Rangers' three.

SFU pushed its season goals total to 75, breaking it's own Great Northwest Athletic Conference single-season record setting total of 73 from 2012.

SFU advances to play Carson-Newman University (Tenn.) in the 2013 men's Division II Final Four in Evans, Ga., beginning Dec. 5.