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Billings, Mont. – Montana State Billings men's soccer team put forth a great effort Thursday (Sept. 19) evening against the No. 1 team in the nation, coming within 45 minutes of the upset. Simon Fraser used two second half goals to edge the Yellowjackets 2-1.
 
"I thought we played really well; our guys played hard, worked hard and hustled hard," stated head coach Alex Balog. "Our first half was spot on tactically and physically and we went into halftime one goal up."
 
MSUB (0-4-1, 0-1 GNAC) battled the Clan for 90 complete minutes in an old fashioned slugfest that featured 29 fouls and 11 yellow cards. The Yellowjackets went toe to toe with their highly ranked opponent, recording 11 shots to Simon Fraser's 14. MSUB proved to be slightly more efficient with their chances, nailing six shots on goal (.545 SOG percentage) compared to the Clan's seven (.500 SOG percentage).
 
Both team's defense came to play, as each backline helped attribute for five saves each. In the battle of the keepers, Brandon Watson registered four saves compared to the Jackets' Eoin Hurley who notched three.
 
After jockeying back and forth for the first 18 minutes of play, MSU Billings hit Simon Fraser with an unexpected blow. At 19:03 Aodhan Brownlee gave a beautiful lead pass to Chad Ward, and the senior forward crept behind the defender to complete a sliding shot from five yards out to land in the bottom left of the net.
 
MSUB stunned the Clan taking the early 1-0 lead.
 
Simon Fraser turned up their attack, taking five shots from the 21^st through the 45^th minute, but faced a tough Yellowjacket defense and trailed entering the intermission.
 
The Clan continued to push forward in the second half and finally broke through in the 61^st minute. Alexander Kleefeldt found Chris Bargholz in a crowd, and Bargholz snuck one by Hurley from five yards out to deadlock the score at one all (61:42).
 
Michael Aringer tried to answer for MSU Billings at 69:51 but the attempt went high over the post.
 
Simon Fraser remained in rhythm and was able to grab the lead at 74:45. Crowding the goal again, the Clan's Johannes Hallman found the ball and fired a shot in the left of the net, placing the Clan ahead 2-1.
 
The Jackets responded with quality attempts in the latter minutes on the half but ultimately couldn't find the net, and Simon Fraser escaped with the narrow one goal victory.
 
"After halftime Simon Fraser came at us hard and we conceded a couple of very soft goals," Balog said. "It has happened a number of times this season and we have to find a way to stay 100 percent focused until the last whistle."
 
MSU Billings faces Western Washington in their next bout, Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
 
"I have to give our players a lot of credit for working hard, they left it all on the field," stated Balog. "However, at this level, when you play against opposition of this caliber, you pay cash for mistakes and that's what happened. Now we have to get ourselves together for the game against Western Washington which will also be a tough match."
 
 
Newspaper Box Score
Simon Fraser (5-0, 1-0 GNAC) vs. Montana St. Billings (0-4-1, 0-1 GNAC)
 Date: Sep 19, 2013  Attendance: 375
 Weather: Fair
 
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 Simon Fraser........  0  2 -  2
 Montana St. Billings  1  0 -  1
 
 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  19:03 MSUB Ward,Chad (1) (Brownlee,Aodhan) - 17 to 6 lead pass 5 yards out. sliding shot
  2.  61:42 SFU Bargholz,Chris (1) (Kleefeldt,Alexander)
  3.  74:45 SFU Hallman,Johannes (1) (unassisted) - 8 yards out in box left of net
 
 Shots: Simon Fraser 14, Montana St. Billings 11
 Saves: Simon Fraser 5 (Watson,Brandon 4; TEAM 1), Montana St. Billings
 5 (Hurley,Eoin 3; TEAM 2)