Tuesday, August 14, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore.  - Simon Fraser, which is newly eligible for the NCAA post-season, will seek its third straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s soccer title this fall.

The Clan is  a near unanimous selection to  repeat as conference champion after going 18-0-1 last season, including 9-0-1 in the GNAC.  The only blemish on its record was a late season 2-2 draw with Western Washington.

SFU received seven of eight first-place votes in the annual coaches poll in outpointing runner-up Seattle Pacific 62-57.  The Falcons earned one first-place vote.

Both teams are highly regarded nationally – and for good reason.

Simon Fraser, which returns 16 letter winners and nine starters, earned a No. 9 ranking in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) pre-season national poll.

Seattle Pacific, coming off its 31st NCAA post-season appearance last season, is ranked 11^th in the pre-season national poll.  A year ago, SPU posted a 14-4-2 overall record and finished second in the GNAC with a 7-2-1 record.

Both teams return six all-stars including a pair of All-Americans.

Among the players returning for the Clan is Carlo Basso, who shared GNAC Player-of-the-Year honors last season with Tyler Schultz of SPU.

Basso ranked second in the conference with 32 points (15 goals, 2 assists), trailing only Schultz who scored 35 points and finished his career as the fourth leading scorer in GNAC history with 84 points.

Basso was a first team NSCAA All-American.  SFU defender Matt Besuschko was a third team All-American selection.

Seattle Pacific’s returning All-Americans  are Jon Pearman, the 2011 GNAC Defender of the Year award winner, and goalkeeper Zach Johnson.

Pearman, who contributed seven points (3 goals, 1 assist) offensively, earned second team NSCAA honors and was a first team Daktronics selection.

Johnson was an honorable mention Daktronics selection after finishing second in the GNAC with a 0.88 goals against average and posting 11 shutouts.

Johnson is one of six starting goalkeepers returning from last year.

Also back in the net is Simon Fraser’s Sheldon Steenhuis, who led the  GNAC with a 0.67 GAA and had six shutouts.

Back for Montana State Billings, which finished third in the coaches poll, is Eoin Hurley, who had a 1.68 GAA and two shutouts.

Keegan Rogers returns in the net for Western Washington, which finished fourth in the poll.  He had a 1.52 GAA last season.

He’ll be challenged by Leo Cohen who had a 1.08 GAA and four shutouts in 2011.

GNAC affiliate member U-Mary also returns its starting goalie.  Last year Michael Frenzel had a 2.30 GAA and one shutout.

Only Northwest Nazarene and Sioux Falls begin the 2012 season without an incumbent keeper. 

The Crusaders, however, recruited goalie Alfredo Ontiveros, who was the NSCAA JC National Player-of-the-Year at Mt. San Antonio College (Calif.).

Both U-Mary and Sioux Falls begin their first season in the GNAC this fall.

Sioux Falls also is beginning its first season as a full-fledged NCAA member as is Simon Fraser.

The eight GNAC soccer teams will all be seeking one of the six available berths for the NCAA West Regional playoffs.

Last year, the West Region received just four berths, but the NCAA has increased the men’s soccer field from 32 to 35 teams, awarding the West Region two of the three additional berths.

All six berths will be awarded on an at-large basis as their are no automatic berths for Division II men’s soccer.