BISMARCK, N.D. - Kicking off the homecoming festivities for the week, the University of Mary Men's Soccer team hosted Great Northwest opponent Simon Fraser University to continue the 2015 season.
 
The Marauders (2-3-1, 1-0-1 GNAC) utilized a stout defense through the first 88 minutes of the half before a breakaway goal in the 89th minute sealed the victory over the Clan (1-2-2, 0-1-1 GNAC) for U-Mary's first home victory of the season.
 
The first half saw a flurry of shots from both teams but not much on target as the defense played a big role in the match. Simon Fraser had the first opportunity as Adam Jones had a corner kick opportunity in the fifth minute but the Marauder defense poked it away before the Clan could capitalize.
 
U-Mary immediately went on the counter-attack as Ramsey Blahnik had a chance to score in the seventh minute but keeper Brandon Watson saved the shot; Aaron Brennan followed that up with a shot in the 13th minute but Simon Fraser's defense kept it away from the goal with a block.
 
The Clan kept the ball on the Marauder's side of the pitch for most of the match and they kept the pressure on the defense with Calvin Opperman's shot in the 17th minute hitting the post and Mamadi Camara's shot saved by Mitch Taveira. After a U-Mary foul, Adam Jones took a free kick attempt from about 30 yards in front of the net and his initial shot was blocked by the Marauder's wall with the follow up sailing wide left of the goal as the defense pulled through again.
 
The match from that point turned into a back-and-forth affair at that point with neither team holding a decided advantage, Simon Fraser did a good job keeping the ball out of U-Mary's hands but the Marauders rode their defense through most of the half.
 
Christoffer Nogueira had a chance to open up the scoring in the 34th minute but his shot sailed wide left of the goal. The Clan took the opportunity and put the ball in the Marauder's half of the pitch but the defense came through again with Adam Jones' shot being blocked by the defense and the follow up from U-Mary ended with a Guilherme Zogbi header shot traveling just wide of the goal.
 
Tensions started to rise in the 42nd minute with the Marauders receiving the caution but ultimately the half ended in a 0-0 tie.
 
U-Mary opened up the second half when Watson saved a shot from Nogueira in the 47th minute; the Clan came right back with a shot in the 53rd minute sailing wide, followed by a corner kick and another shot sailing wide of the goal. Simon Fraser kept the pressure on with another corner kick in the 58th minute followed by another wide shot in the 59th minute, with credit to U-Mary's defense as they would not break.
 
The Marauders had another chance to notch the first goal of the match in the 61st minute with another header shot from Jonathan Sellers that was blocked and a corner kick from James Liddiard failing to find an open look. Simon Fraser responded quickly with a shot from Adam Jones that was blocked by U-Mary's defense and the following corner kick from Kyle Jones found Adam Jones but once again the Marauder defense blocked the shot, leading to another corner kick that failed to find the back of the goal.
 
Defense continued to be the difference in the match with Simon Fraser taking three shots, all wide of the goal, with two corner kicks and U-Mary taking two shots, one being saved and the other sailing wide right.
 
The difference in the match finally came in the 89th minute when Nogueira took the loose ball up the right flank and found Liddiard on a stellar pass that traveled about 25 yards in the air. Liddiard took the pass with the keeper coming up to challenge the ball and Liddiard headed the ball once past the keeper and again into the back of the net to give the Marauders a 1-0 lead with 66 seconds to go in the match.
 
Simon Fraser couldn't mount an offensive through the remained of the match and U-Mary came away with their first conference win of the year.
 
Nogueira led the offense with three shots, two on goal, and the only assist of the match.
 
Liddiard's goal came on one shot as he only need a single chance to give the Marauders the win.
 
As a team, U-Mary faced 13 shots from the Clan but only one came on goal with four shots being blocked and the only shot on goal saved by Taviera. The Marauders also gave up seven corner kicks but were able to minimize their impact thanks again to the defense.
 
The Marauders will host Western Washington University on Saturday, September 26, at 5 pm at the MDU Resources Bowl.
 
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