The Simon Fraser University men's soccer team moved into uncharted waters following a quarter-final win at the NCAA Division II national championships.
The Clan, in its first official season in the NCAA, earned a berth into the final four of the nationals with a 1-0 victory over the University of the Incarnate Word in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday.
Defender Marco Voegeli scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season.
"We're absolutely ecstatic right now," said Clan head coach Alan Koch, in an SFU press release. "I take my hat off to Incarnate Word, they made life very difficult for us and they played some fantastic football. Our guys showed a lot of character. It wasn't our best performance tonight and the game-winner wasn't the prettiest goal, but we'll take it."
Voegeli's marker came off a crossing pass from Chris Bargholz that deflected off the defender and into the goal.
The win made NCAA history for SFU who became the first non-American program to earn a berth into the semifinals of a national championship tournament.
Two days earlier, SFU won a thrilling 2-1 win over Grand Canyon University in the quarter-finals also held in Phoenix.
Matt Besuschko got the Clan on the board first on a late first-half corner from Juan Sanchez in the 42nd minute.
Grand Canyon answered back midway through the second half on a successful penalty kick.
But with the clock in the 87th minute, Bargholz crossed the ball to Carlo Basso, who headed home his 13th goal of the season for the game-winner.
"Justin (Wallace) made a great play in our own half. He got the ball up to Chris (Bargholz), who put a beautiful ball in to me, and I didn't really have to do much, to be honest," said Basso in a release.
The Clan will nearly two weeks to prepare for the Final Four that takes place in Evans, Georgia from Nov. 28 to Dec. 1.
