Burnaby, B.C. – With the 2008 season fast approaching, the Simon Fraser University Clan men’s soccer team is just over one week away from opening their 2008 training camp. Fresh off the heels of an impressive 17-win season, culminating in a trip to the NAIA Final Four, the Clan will officially open camp on Friday, August 1. Simon Fraser begins their regular season on Wednesday, August 20, when the team travels to Langley to face the Trinity Western University Spartans (7 p.m.).

First year SFU head coach Alan Koch has done an outstanding job during the recruiting season, attracting six top-level recruits, including UNLV transfer Ben Pisch, to add significant depth to the Clan. Headlining the returning players are two seniors whom Koch has selected as team captains for 2008 in Justin Carvery (Surrey, B.C.) and Thomas Lindley (Seabright, N.S.). Both Carvery and Lindley were named NAIA Third Team All-Americans in 2007, as striker Carvery led SFU with 29 points, including a team high 11 assists, while Lindley set records in goal with a near flawless 0.38 goals against average and winning 13 consecutive games in a row.

SFU lost only three players to graduation from the 2007 squad; however defenders Luca Bellisomo and Leigh Sembaluk will sorely be missed. The former Clan teammates now play for rival organizations in the United Soccer League, as 2007 NAIA First Team All-American Bellisomo signed with the hometown Vancouver Whitecaps, while Sembaluk plays for the Rochester Rhinos.

“I am extremely excited about the upcoming training camp back on the hill,” said Koch, who arrives at SFU after two seasons at Baker University (KS). “We have an established group of returning players and a great group of new recruits. Together our goal will be to win the next match, and if we get on a roll the sky is the limit. The team has had a taste of what it is like to make a deep run into the playoffs and hopefully we can get that going again this year.”

Schedule highlights: SFU’s first home game of the season takes place on September 27, when the Clan host Seattle University (2:30 p.m.). The much anticipated Challenge Cup between SFU and UBC takes place at Thunderbird Stadium on October 1, at 7 p.m. SFU’s lone exhibition game of the preseason takes place on Saturday, August 9, when the team faces the Okanagan Challenge in Kelowna, B.C. Game time is set for 7 p.m.