Thursday, November 3, 2011

Western Washington twice recovered from a goal down to tie nationally No.1-ranked Simon Fraser 2-2, and end the Clan's 16-game winning streak in a GNAC men's soccer contest Thursday at Orca Field.

Midfielder Tye Hastings and forward Keith Ferris scored for the Vikings, who snapped a five-game losing streak to conclude the season 5-11-1 overall and 3-6-1 in the GNAC.

Simon Fraser, ranked No.1 in the NSCAA Top 25, is 16-0-1 overall and 9-0-1 in GNAC.

The Clansmen, who had already clinched a second straight GNAC title, a conference first, are not eligible for the NCAA Division II tournament as they are in a transition year from the NAIA.

Simon Fraser opened the scoring exactly 25 minutes in. Justin Wallace was fouled in the penalty area, and Josh Bennett converted the penalty kick just inside the right post.

Western leveled the score in the 59th minute. A deflection fell to Hastings, who chested the ball down and hit a left-footed blast through traffic from 20 yards out.

Less than five minutes later, the Clan's Juan Sanchez fired a low shot from the left side that Western goalkeeper Keegan Rogers stopped, but the ball fell to Carlo Basso, who had a simple finish from the goalmouth to give SFU a 2-1 advantage.

But the Vikings continued to create chances, and perhaps fittingly for Senior Night, it was a senior who got the equalizer. After a series of headers in and around the penalty area, a Hastings header fell to Ferris, who finished from 10 yards out.

“I'm really proud of all our guys,” said WWU coach Travis Connell. “We've had some frustrations this season, but in the final week, we've taken the No.1 team in the region (Seattle Pacific) to overtime, and tied the No.1 team in the country. Our seniors have been great leaders in those games, and they deserve the success they've had.”

In the extra periods, neither team had a shot on target until the final minute, when SFU's Michael Winter won a scramble off a cross but put his shot right at Rogers.