Sioux Falls, SD – The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team returned to their winning ways against one of the newest schools in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference on Thursday evening, defeating the University of Sioux Falls, 5-1.

Both teams played a very defensive game in the first half, with the Clan managing just one shot on target and Sioux Falls none.

In the second half, the Clan exploded for five goals.

"This game was another character test," said head coach Alan Koch.  "After a tough first half where we just couldn't get things to go our way, the lads truly picked things up in the second half. We questioned their desire and character at half time, and received the exact response we needed within seconds of the re-start."

The Clan got the first three  of their five in the span of five minutes, starting with a John Hodnett (Wolverhampton, England) goal in the 46th minute with an assist going to Carlo Basso (Coquitlam, BC).

That was quickly followed up by goals by freshman Alex Rowley (Maple Ridge, BC) in the 47th minute and Basso in the 50th, when he scored off a cross from Jovan Blagojevic (Hamilton, ON).

Sioux Falls answered back minutes later with a goal by Jared Dean in the 58th minute to keep the score close.

The Clan offence was too much for USF to handle on this night though, as the Clan added two more goals with Hodnett's second of the evening in the 61st minute Justin Wallace's (Kamloops, BC) goal off a penalty kick in the 75th as SFU cruised to a 5-1 victory.

"John Hodnett was the catalyst to get things going tonight, and it was pleasing to see so many other players get a lot of minutes," finished Koch.

With the win, the Clan improve to 5-1 on the season and 2-1 in GNAC play.

The Clan will continue their road trip on Saturday against another new GNAC rival when they head to North Dakota to visit the University of Mary.

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