Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Throwing 39 shots at goaltender Tanner McCorriston to no avail, the MacEwan Griffins fell 2-0 to the Concordia Thunder in Game 2 of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference quarter-final on Saturday night at Clareview Arena.
The result evens their series 1-1 and pushes the best-of-three quarter-final to a do-or-die Game 3 on Sunday (1 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, ACAC TV).
"Tonight wasn't our night," said Griffins head coach Mike Ringrose. "We didn't execute very well. I thought that was a team that played with their backs against the wall. They didn't play a complicated game. It was a simple one, but they were able to get a lead and they just worked.
"For us, we had opportunities, but weren't able to solve their goaltender. Ultimately, we just didn't execute well enough."
Both of Concordia's goals came on the powerplay as their dominance of the special teams battle decided the game.
Keegan Tiringer scored 2:27 into the contest with Austin Yaremchuk in the box for tripping and Curtis Peck cashed in for the Thunder on a powerplay with 4:55 left.
"Our powerplay went 0-for-6 and our PK gave up two," said Ringrose. "That was all the scoring in the game. In the playoffs, if you're going to be successful, your special teams have to be a difference maker in the right way.
"We'll regroup and focus on those in a quick turnaround tomorrow."
It's the first time Concordia (11-14-1-2) has beaten MacEwan (20-7-1-0) all season after the Griffins won all four regular season meetings between the Edmonton rivals and took Game 1 of the series 4-1 on Friday.
But a desperate team with a goalie in the zone is a tough one to beat.
"We had a couple of really good chances and he was there," said Ringrose. "It was a really good game from McCorriston in the net. He was poised and swallowed everything up."
Marc-Olivier Daigle was pretty solid in the Griffins' crease as well, stopping 38 of 40, but couldn't get the goal support to make his effort stand up.
So, the series will go the distance, down to a one-game affair to decide which team moves on to the ACAC semifinals.
If the Griffins can take a lesson out of Saturday's loss, it's that they need to play Sunday's game like the Thunder played Saturday's – like their backs are against the wall.
"That was the message after the game tonight," said Ringrose. "That was a team we played that competed. They left it all out there because they didn't want their season to end. Now we're in the same spot.
"For our guys, we've been in this position many times before, whether it's with this team or another. There's no pressure, you've just got to make sure you're prepared to play and you come and execute. We're going home to a place we've had lots of success and we feel comfortable. It's just about having a short memory on this one and getting ready to go on a quick turnaround."
