EVANS, Ga. – Saginaw Valley State defeated Simon Fraser 3-1 in the semifinals of the Division II Men’s Soccer Championship Thursday ending the Clan's historic first appearance in the NCAA post-season.

The Cardinals (18-2-4) built a 3-0 lead midway through the second half in handing SFU (19-2-1) just its second loss of the season.  Over the past three seasons as a member of the GNAC, SFU, which outshot SVSU 15-7, has posted a fabulous record of 56-4-2.

Saginaw took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Zach Walega found the top right corner of the goal after a feed from Robert Short to beat Simon Fraser goalkeeper J.D. Blakely.

SVSU senior keeper Jason Wise kept the Cardinals' edge in tact in the 25th minute as he made an impressive diving save to his right to keep Simon Fraser off the scoreboard.

Saginaw Valley grabbed control of the contest at the 51:40 mark of the second half as Robert Short found Lachlan Savage with a pass into the box on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Savage went on to punch the ball in for the 2-0 advantage.

The Cardinals pushed their advantage to 3-0 just four minutes later when Zach Myers fired a laser into the back of the net after streaking down the left side of the field. Zack Cooney posted the assist on Myers’ team-high 17th goal of the year.

Simon Fraser jumped on the scoreboard in the 59th minute on a goal by Carlo Basso to cut the deficit to 3-1.  The goal was Basso's 14th of the season.  He ended the season leading the GNAC in scoring with 35 points (14 goals, 7 assists).  Last year he tied for the conference lead in total goals (16) and finished second in scoring with 32 points.