It took 87 minutes and 40 seconds, but The Clan of Simon Fraser of British Columbia finally got the goal they were looking for to defeat Westmont College’s men’s soccer team 1-0 at the Nike World Campus in Beaverton, Ore. Both teams were limited to just five shots in a defensive struggle in the first game of the Far West Challenge
The game’s lone goal came off the foot of Tom Lowndes, who scored from 17 yards out after settling a pass from Scott McEachern. Simon Fraser improved its record to 3-2.
“The guys defended well over the balance of 90 minutes,” Westmont head coach Dave Wolf said. “It’s an improvement over where we were last weekend. Simon Fraser is a very good team, fifth-ranked in the country, so on one hand, it’s not a surprising result. But we are trying to break through against one of these teams.”
Westmont now has a season record of 1-2 with both of the Warrior losses coming against top 10 ranked opponents by one goal.
“We did not play especially well when it came to passing and keeping the ball,” Wolf said. “But tomorrow we get another chance to knock off a team which is ranked ahead of us.”
The Warriors will take on No. 24 Concordia University of Portland, Ore., at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Nike World Campus. The Cavaliers played No. 1 Azusa Pacific to a 1-1 draw in the second game of the Far West Challenge.
Ron Smith is Westmont College’s sports information director.