Women's Basketball

Thursday, November 11 - Simon Fraser University showed why it's the top-ranked team in the country, knocking off the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport champion UBC Thunderbirds 60-54 before 1,200 fans at War Memorial Gym. The tilt was a rematch of last year's national semifinal, won 65-46 by UBC.

With less than a minute to play in the final frame and the Clan hanging on to a 56-54 advantage, SFU guard Devon Campbell slipped under the UBC defence on a set inbounds play and layed in the decisive basket with no time on the shot clock.

Morgan McLaughlin added two more from the charity stripe as UBC was forced to foul in a last-second comeback attempt.

SFU had a one-point lead, 26-25, at the half but outscored the Thunderbirds 39-34 in the second half to hand UBC their second loss in three games. SFU won its 11th straight game and is now 3-0 in Canada West play.

"They're the defending champs and we came out a little tight and a little nervous, but eventually we settled down," said Clan captain Dani Langford, who had seven points.

"Our posts did a great job of going to the basket and getting shots. We had 11 more shots than them but they just didn't fall."

The Clan shot 34 per cent (9 of 36) from the field in the first half, but picked it up in the second when the team shot 46.4 per cent (13 of 28) to pull away from the T-Birds.

"We are quite a mature team now, and it's great to have that kind of experience in the post with Julia [Wilson] and Morgan [McLaughlin]. We have a lot of different scoring threats and our points could come from anywhere," said Langford.

The 6-foot-4 Wilson recorded a double-double on the night, scoring a team-high 14 points while notching game-highs in blocks (5) and rebounds (12), none bigger than an offensive board with under a minute to play that allowed SFU to run down the clock. McLaughlin added 12 points and six rebounds down low, while Maren Corrigal chipped in 13 points and Lani Gibbons had a game-high seven assists.

Corrigal came off the bench to score her 13 points on four-of-seven shooting in 18 minutes. She netted two key three-pointers late in the first frame as the Clan exploded on a 10-2 run to end the half and take a 26-25 advantage into the locker room.

SFU got scoring from nine of 10 players as the Clan bench out- scored UBC's 18-10.

"It's great to have experience and scoring from different players," said Langford. "Different people at different times can step up and make plays, and that's what makes this team special."

Cross-Country

Saturday, November 6 - A trio of first-year runners helped lead SFU to the NAIA Region I men's and women's cross-country championships at Lents Park in Portland, Oregon.

Clan rookie Kristen Kolstad captured the regional title by winning the five-kilometre women's race in 17:45.59. Kolstad led five Clan runners in the top 10 and seven in the top 14 as defending NAIA champion SFU captured the regional title for the second straight year, ahead of second place UBC. Less than a minute separated SFU's first and seventh place runners.

Until last year, SFU had not won a regional title since 1988. Now the Clan women have won back-to-back titles.

Clan senior Richard Mosley led the men's eight-kilometre race from the start until the final 500-metres when he was passed by an Eastern Oregon runner. Mosley finished second in 24:35, six seconds back of the winner, but his performance and the emergence of freshmen runners David Wambui and Dylan Gant pushed the Clan to the men's championship. Southern Oregon finished second and UBC placed third.

Wambui, a 23-year-old freshman from Kenya, and Gant both placed in the top 10. Wambui finished fourth in 25 minutes flat, 31 seconds behind the leader. Gant was eighth in 25:30.

Mosley battled the flu all week and didn't have enough energy to hold the lead in the stretch run. He will be trying to capture his first national title at the 2004 NAIA national championships November 20 in Louisville, Kentucky.

The Clan men's team will be trying for its first championship since 1982, the only year SFU has captured the national men's cross-country championship. SFU, which finished third last year, is ranked second in the NAIA behind Virginia Intermont. The Clan women's team is also rated second, behind Concordia (Nebraska).

"Judging by our performances today, we are ready to compete for the national titles on both sides," said Clan coach Brit Townsend.

SFU senior Ryan Weber was 17th in 26:15 and Medi Ahrari was 18th in 26:20 to complete the SFU men's team scoring.

On the women's side, Clan junior Julia Howard was third, 10 seconds back of the winner. Meredith MacGregor was sixth in 18:05, Rebecca Johnstone was ninth in 18:21, Leah Boeckermann-Belanger was 10th in 18:27, Justine Boulin was 13th in 18:39, and Amanda Cliff was 14th in 18:41.

SFU has never won both championships in the same year. The Clan women have won six titles in their history, the most of any school in the NAIA. They have also finished second four times.

Women's Volleyball

Saturday, November 6 - The CIS' top-ranked University of Alberta Pandas needed five sets to defeat SFU in Edmonton.

Alberta started out on a roll, winning the first set 25-18, and seemed to be in control. But the Clan fought back, capitalising on Panda miscues and attack errors. SFU was able to win the second set 25-20.

The third set was filled with rally after rally. The Pandas hit 13 of their 39 attacks for points in the set, while the Clan was able to get points off 15 of their 36 attack attempts.

Alberta led by as many as eight points in the third set, but was unable to hold off a SFU rally as the Clan took the third set 25-23.

Alberta came out firing in the fourth, winning 25-17 to tie the match, and eventually went on to win the game in the fifth set.

Heather Androsoff and Rachelle Thomas put up big numbers for SFU, notching 18 and 16 kills, respectively.

Friday, playing before 1200 fans in their home opener, Alberta downed the visiting Clan, 25-23, 25-22 and 25-23. The losses leave the Clan 0-6 to start the season.

Swimming

Thursday, November 4 - Clan swimmers Amber Dykes and Kathryn Rosberg each won two races to pace the SFU women to a 108-81 win over the University of Alberta. The Clan men, led by Paul Wilkins and Randal Krall, also beat Alberta, 122-75, in dual meets at the SFU.

Dykes won the 200-metre individual medley in 2:25.84, and the 400-metre freestyle in 4:33.90. Rosberg finished first in the 200-metre freestyle in 2:05.83, setting a Clan dual meet record, and was first in the 100-metre freestyle in 59.28 seconds, beating Elsa Van Goudoever of Alberta by three one-hundredths of a second.

Courtney Mulhern won the 800-metre freestyle in 9:21.03 and Megan Allen took the 100-metre breaststroke in 1:14.90. The Clan women also won both relays.

The defending NAIA champion Clan men's team got individual wins from Krall in the 50-metre freestyle (23.96), Travis Musgrave in the 800-metre freestyle (8:43.99), Paul Wilkins in 100-metre freestyle (53.65), Elliot Burger in the 400-metre freestyle (4:08.30), and Felix Steinhauer in the 100-metre breaststroke (1:05.21).

SFU captured five of nine men's races and both relays in the win over Alberta.

Women's Soccer

Saturday, November 6 - The NAIA's fourth-ranked SFU lived up to its advance billing by capturing the Region I Championship with a 2-0 win over Carroll College (Montana) at Heritage Park School in Port Moody, B.C.

It was the 14th straight game without a loss for the Clan, who claimed an automatic berth in the 20-team NAIA championship tournament, November 17-23 in Santa Barbara, California.

SFU will make its ninth overall appearance. In 2003, the Clan lost in the first round.

The Clan put the 25th-ranked Carroll College under relentless pressure in the first half and scored twice in the opening 23 minutes. SFU's leading scorer Naomi Eguchi got the game-winner in the 11th minute when she received a pass from midfielder Mallory Johnson. Eguchi cut across the 18-yard line, pushed past the defender, and fired a low shot to the opposite corner for her 12th goal of the season.

SFU kept on the attack and it paid off on a corner kick 12 minutes later. Midfielder Carlen Oates sent the ball into the goal area and Jennifer Arnold, moving up from defence, headed the ball into the net for her first of the season.

Carroll College surrendered 11 corner kicks in the first half as the Clan fired 12 shots at the Fighting Saints goalkeeper. SFU finished the game with 23 shots on goal.

Friday, the Clan fired 28 shots on goal to win its semifinal 1-0 over Western Baptist College and advance to the regional
championship.

"We had Carroll College under a lot of pressure and it started from our defence out," said head coach
Shelley Howieson.

"We have some good athletes on this team, and with the effort we got today, we were able to impose our will on this game."

SFU will enter the NAIA championship tournament with a 14-1-2 record. The team's only loss this season was 2-1 to Trinity Western University on September 9 in an exhibition match.

The SFU women have won NAIA championships twice, in 1996 and 2000. Howieson said her current group reminds her of those two teams.

"The hallmark of those championship teams was our ability to defend - that's what wins championships," said Howieson. "This team is showing that same type of commitment."

SFU held Western Baptist to three shots in the semifinal and Carroll College to seven shots in the championship. Clan goalkeeper Michele Gademans made three saves Saturday, none of them dangerous.

"Our focus all year has been to win our next game," said Arnold, a senior captain.

"Our team defence is quite strong and gives us a great deal of confidence, which helps us keep our composure. We know on the back line that our teammates are going to be there to support us if we make a mistake."

Men's Soccer

Friday, November 5 - Unfortunately, the news wasn't as good for the men's team. The Clan gave up an own-goal midway through the second half as Warner Pacific College hung on to upset SFU 1-0 in the NAIA Region I Championship semifinal in Portland, Oregon.

The NAIA's 10th-ranked Clan had entered the regional tournament as the top seed, but the loss left SFU with only a slight chance of getting an at-large entry into the 20-team NAIA national championship tournament later this month.

SFU, 11-5-1, will have to wait to see if it is awarded one of the 5-7 at-large entries - given to the highest-ranked teams unable to win their way into the national championship tournament. SFU was the two-time defending NAIA Region I Champion.

Warner Pacific forward Trevor Tharp was awarded the goal in the 60th minute, but it was the Clan's Jordan Rosenlund who accidentally put the ball into his own net. Warner put a ball into the penalty area and Rosenlund attempted to intercept it but instead knocked it past Clan goalkeeper Raegyn Hall, who was playing the pass and was caught by surprise.

SFU pressed for the equaliser as Robbie Cairns and John Chou both hit posts. SFU outshot WPC 17-11 and forced their goalie to make six saves.

"We struggled to find our legs and we were out of sync right from the start," said Clan coach Dave Elligott. "I was hoping we would play ourselves into the game but Warner made things difficult and they had a game plan that frustrated us."

"Any time you get into the playoffs you need a little bit of luck, but I don't think we had any with the number of chances we missed," said Elligott.