MacEwan Athletics

CAMROSE – Before the game was barely two minutes old, the MacEwan Griffins had a 2-0 lead over the UAlberta-Augustana Vikings on Saturday night.

Building off a hot start, the Griffins chased world-beating goaltender Curtis Skip – who stood on his head with 45 saves against them on Friday – and rolled to a 6-0 win in Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference action.

"We were able to jump out to an early lead and we just kept coming," said MacEwan interim head coach Michael Ringrose after earning a sweep over UAA to leapfrog them into second place in the ACAC standings at 8-4-0. "We didn't let up. I was really happy with our performance this weekend in general, but specifically tonight."

Skip looked human in this one, allowing five goals in the first two periods and was replaced by Vikings backup Harry Fredeman for the third period.

"We watched some game tape and we were able to identify a couple of things," said Ringrose. "He's a good goalie and sometimes you have to go to the hard areas to score. Last night we were less willing to do that than we were tonight. I think we went there and we were rewarded for it."

Nakehko Lamothe led the Griffins with two goals and an assist, while Ryan Baskerville, Brett Smythe and Jacob Schofield each had a goal and an assist. Brett Njaa also scored for the Griffins, while five other players recorded points in a complete team effort.

"I'm not sure I could have taken the lines we rolled this weekend and numbered them 1, 2, 3, 4," said Ringrose. "I wouldn't want to. The one thing that made us successful is we were able to use our depth and come at (the Vikings) in waves. The result was that we got the sweep and the four points and were able to climb ourselves up into second."

Not to be understated was the play of goaltender Marc-Olivier Daigle, who earned his first shutout of the season with 28 saves.

"He was very good," said Ringrose. "I think our goaltending this weekend was exceptional. Both Wrayzor (Christopher Wray) last night and Marc tonight were very good when called upon. Just the calmness they have and the poise that they bring is a calming presence for our group."

Next up for MacEwan is a two-game road trip to Caronport, Saskatchewan-based Briercrest (2-8-1-1) on Nov. 24-25, their final action before the Christmas break.