SFU Clan Soccer 2006

[Hands of Stone]

The Boys are having a tough time this year, but here is what I have so far, enjoy.

Varsity Season In Full Swing

After the unexpected loss of 7 returning players over the summer due to long term injuries,
personal situations, and professional opportunities, the 2006 varsity team went from returning 9 starters
to returning just 4. This unexpected turnover has transformed the team from an experienced and
battle hardened group into one with just 4 upperclassmen on the roster. This unexpected turn of events has
opened the door for 13 freshman, each of whom is taking full advantage of the opportunity.

The Clan's early season record thus far of 2-3-3 is rather misleading, as this young but talented team has
outplayed and out-shot almost every one of it's opponents, frustrated only by a lack of consistent finishing.
Each of the Clan's 3 losses has ended in the agonizing scoreline of 0-1.

The early season highlight was a 1-0 win over NCAA Div. II Sonoma State University,
then ranked #17 in the Nation. The Clan defence, anchored by team captain Luca Bellisomo and sophomore
goalkeeper Thomas Lindley have been strong, giving up just 7 goals in the team's first 8 games.
Senior captain Nathan Quan continues to lead the way in midfield, as the Clan hope to
find the elusive finishing touch more consistently as the second half of the season gets underway.
__________________________________________

Jeff Clarke selected to USL Division I all-star team

Congratulations to SFU soccer alum and current Vancouver Whitecap Jeff Clarke,
who was recently named to the USL Division I All-Star Team. Jeff played in all 28 regular
season games and lead the team to a record of 12-6-10 on the year. Jeff, alongside fellow SFU soccer
alum Steve Kindel, has continued his outstanding play in the post-season, leading the 'Caps
to the final four, where they will face the Montreal Impact in a home-and-home series for the
opportunity to compete in the USL Division I Final.

__________________________________________

Congratulations to the following members of the SFU Soccer Family


SFU soccer alum Rich Sumner, and his wife Genvieve, on the birth of their first son this past May,
young Nicolas Robert Sumner.

SFU soccer alum Rich Bodnark, and his wife Kristine, on the birth of their son, Will Bodark, in June.

SFU soccer alum Garret Kucsh and his wife Shannon, who welcomed their second child,
Ryder Andrew Kusch, in July.

Former varsity GK coach, Erkan Gunestutar and his wife, on the birth of his first son Emre Gunestutar.

SFU soccer alum Dave Mori, who was recently wed at a chapel in Las Vegas to fiancee Noelle.

SFU soccer alum Bernd Schwericke, who was recently engaged to long term girlfriend Marsha.

SFU soccer alum Struan Howes, who also recently took the plunge and is now engaged to be married.

more to come...

 

[Regs]

SFU soccer alum Dave Mori, who was recently wed at a chapel in Las Vegas to fiancee Noelle.

Why isn't that surprising? It's the flying Mori's!

 

[Hands of Stone]

I think he might have been married by Elvis, are the Mori's still with Croatia?

hos

 

[Regs]

Who are you?
seriously.

 

[Hands of Stone]

I don't understand the question.

hos???

 

[Reccos]

You boys going to the SFU Men's Soccer 40th Anniversary Saturday, October 28?

Maybe by then HOS will figure out who he is or at least what the question was about.

They have 97 alumni booked now.

That question Regs is puzzling...lol.

 

[Hands of Stone]

SFU Men's Soccer Downs UBC in PK's
Huge win for SFU Soccer Wednesday Night


Vancouver, B.C. – Playing in their final game of the regular season, the Simon Fraser University Clan men’s soccer team picked up two results Wednesday night. Officially, the game will go down on their NAIA record as a 1-1 draw, however unofficially the Clan will hold bragging rights for another year, as SFU defeated the No. 4 ranked (CIS) UBC Thunderbirds 2-1 on penalty kicks (4-3) to win the 2006 Soccer City Cup. Under NAIA official rules, the game ends after two ten-minute overtime periods; however both teams agreed to go to a shootout to decide the Cup. The Clan end the regular season with a 6-6-4 overall record.

An intense first half saw play swing back and forth; however neither team was able to capitalize on their opportunities. SFU goalkeeper Thomas Lindley (Seabright, N.S.) made three key saves in the first period to keep the game knotted at 0-0.

In the 86th minute, SFU’s Colin Streckmann (Burnaby, B.C.) scored off a rebound to put the Clan up 1-0. However, UBC responded quickly, as in the 90th minute Luke Sandilands scored off a blocked shot, beating Lindley on the top right-hand side of the net.

At that point, after two overtime periods, the game will officially go down as a 1-1 tie for the purposes of the team’s respective overall records, as the shootout is not a tie-breaking method in place for non-conference NAIA games. However, for the fifth straight season, the Burnaby Mountain squad can claim the trophy, taking a 10-9-4 all-time edge in the annual challenge.

UBC quickly found itself in a 3-1 penalty-kick deficit due to a sub par shooting effort, but goalkeeper Serge Djekanovic (Vancouver) punched out Matt Besuschko’s (Port Moody) attempt diving to his left, then T-Bird defender Graham Smith (Abbotsford) slotted one bottom right to give UBC life at 3-2. That’s when Todd Lucyk, the Clan’s third year defender from Surrey, calmly placed his shot into the top right corner to give the visitors the win. Streckmann, Scott McEachern (Langley, B.C.) and Luca Bellisomo (Johannesburg, South Africa) also scored for the Clan during the shootout.

“It was a very slick surface, a very high paced and intense game, just a battle from start to finish,” said SFU head coach Dave Elligott following the match. “It started quite well and our boys were up for it, but as we approached the end of the first half UBC started to apply a lot of pressure, and some of our younger players were not up for the challenge and the final 20 minutes of the first half we were a little out of sorts, but we managed to get to the half at 0-0. At the half we made some changes to our approach and came out much stronger in the second half and thoroughly deserved a result.”

UBC out shot the Clan 20-to-8 on the night, including 7-to-1 in shots on goal. Lindley was awarded the MVP Trophy for SFU following his six save performance.

“In the 86th minute Colin, after getting the ball from Reece Miles (Port Moody, B.C.), just displayed an incredible piece of skill to score, it was a very mature goal for a young player,” added Elligott. “With seven minutes to go, we were hoping to hunker down, to finish strong and leave the game with a 1-0 result, however with just a couple of minutes remaining, Sandilands ripped a shot to the top corner. Unfortunately we gave up another late goal, but that is just the way this season has gone for us it seems.”

SFU, who beat UBC 4-1 in 2005 at Swangard, committed 23 fouls compared to UBC’s 18. UBC led in corner kicks 7-to-4.

“It was a very good night for us, I am so proud of our young team,” said Elligott. “To watch these young freshmen all season long and see how they have progressed from training camp has been a real treat.”

Courtesy of Scott Maclean, SFU Athletics Media Relations

Regs was only a member of the Clan for pre-season, a very funny story.

hos

 

[Regs]

Ha Ha.

I blame Zenon.



~Regs.

 

[Reccos]

"Regs was only a member of the Clan for pre-season, a very funny story.

hos"

Ha Ha.

I blame Zenon.



~Regs.

Well post up the funny story.

I doubt it could match the funny story that I of the unnamed JV player playing for the Jim Easton Sr (me assisting) team who told us he was registered at SFU.

Keith Watts called me at work one Friday morning around 9 and said something came up and he wanted to take this JV defender on the road trip leaving in the afternoon. I said fine as that was what we were there for, developing talent for varsity. The kid had played well for us, came out to daily practices, etc. Good choice. I offer to call the kid - Keith says no problem he is outside his door as we speak! He'd been in the gymn below his office so he had seen him.

I get a call back later just as the vans are heading out from a very angry Keith saying "I gotta run- we gotta leave. This kid is not even in school. Call Zenon (then track coach responsible for verifying academic eligibility) and he will fill you in." So I call Zenon as told. Here is what he tells me:

Zenon tells Keith, kid not in school, period. Keith talks to kid. He says he is and gives them a list of courses and profs including English 200 - problem there as that is UBC's second year English course and SFU has no course numbered that way. The kid says - big mistake - I will fix it. The kid goes to the Registrar's Office with one of the Varsity players and he gets into a yelling match with them so they call his regional college to see what happened to him. The Registrar there says, if you let a guy with a GPA of less than 1.0 you might have him. He had failed every semester there....lol.

Keith and Zenon did say the player was not to appear in a game until there was a full and complete explanation provided to Jim and I for us to reveal on Monday when Keith gets back. I reach the kid late Saturday afternoon at his family business. He says wait a second, be right back. Okay he has work so I wait on the line for 20 minutes! I get the message and hang up and call again.

Chuck Keeling who was on that JV team, and the Captain, told me that he had asked the player many times about why he never seemed to leave the gymn to go to class or why his locker never had books or any sign of school. He said others on the team had the same thoughts.

Too funny. HOS - no names but is this guy still around??? He was a very nice guy and not a bad defender.

So I take it Regs won't be at the event. Me neither.

 

[Dude]

I'm pretty sure Tug Boat Chuck took care of the kid, who is likely now cleaning pens down at his small business.

If I ever see camels down there, Chuck, I'm going to sue your ass.

 

[Hands of Stone]

2006 Varsity Season Re-Cap

Despite finishing with a winning record (7-6-3) and going 5-1 in October, the 2006 Clan fell just short of
qualifying for the NAIA Region I tournament. SFU finished the season as the third highest rated team in
the region, however, the Clan was bumped from the 4 team tournament field due to a 0-1 away loss to
Corban College of Oregon early in the season.

Despite the fact that SFU was rated considerably higher than Corban at season's end, Corban 'jumped'
SFU for playoff qualification due to the 'head-to-head' rule which states that lower rated teams shall jump
higher rated teams if the teams met in the regular season and the lower rated team won. A costly loss indeed.

Although a very disappointing conclusion to the campaign, there were many positives to take from the season,
including huge away wins over SPU (NCAA nationally ranked #8)and UBC (CIS nationally ranked #4), and a
fantastic home win over Sonoma State (NCAA nationally ranked #16). The team can also be very proud of a
stellar goals against average on the season after giving up only 1.07 goals per game.

In addition, 21 of the 25 man roster are eligible to return next year, and fully 18 of these players are currently in
only their first or second year. In each regular season game played this season, no fewer than 5 freshman were
in the starting line-up, and on several occasions, the line-up contained 6 or even 7 first year players. This
valuable experience gained shall be a massive advantage for these young players as they enter their second year.

Individual honors were captured by team co-captains Nathan Quan (Sr. midfielder) and Luca Bellisomo
(Jr. defender), as each were selected to the NAIA Region I All-Star team.

 

[Reccos]

As announced at our recent 40th Anniversary Dinner:

The Frode Strand-Nielsen International Endowment Fund

The SFU Men's Soccer Program is very pleased to announce the creation of the Frode Strand-Nielsen International Award in Men's Soccer. SFU Soccer Alumni Frode Strand-Nielsen, who resides in Oslo, Norway, has recently created this award through his generous donation of $100,000 to the SFU Men's Soccer Program. SFU President Michael Stevenson, through the SFU Matching Progarm,
will be matching this donation dollar for dollar, thus creating a $200,000 endowment fund, which shall be used specifically
for student-athlete support.

This endowment will yield at least $10,000 per year, and will be used to partially fund an outstanding international student-athlete to attend and play soccer for SFU.


The David Smith Memorial Award in Men's Soccer

The SFU Men's Soccer Program is also very pleased to announce the launching of the David Smith Memorial Award in Men's Soccer. This award has been created through the commitment and generosity of SFU Soccer Alumni John McGrane and will fully cover all expenses for an underprivileged student-athlete from Hamilton, Ontario to attend and play soccer at SFU for 4 years. The amount of this award will total at least $50,000 and shall honor the memory of David Smith, a young soccer player from Hamilton who died tragically in a boating accident in 2002.

Outstanding young soccer prospect Josh Bennett, a member of the Ontario provincial team, has been selected as the first recipient of this award. Josh will begin his studies and university soccer career at SFU in the Fall of 2007.


The SFU Men's Soccer Program would like to thank Frode and John
for their support of the program and for their generosity in creating these exciting awards!

********************************************************
SFU MEN'S SOCCER
PRIDE * PASSION * TRADITION

*this email has been delivered to over 340 SFU soccer alumni

 

[Hands of Stone]

Good cutting and pasting Reccos, Larsson says hi.

hos