Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Buoyed by a hot goaltender, growing confidence and a nothing-to-lose attitude, the underdog Concordia Thunder threw a scare into the three-time defending Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference champion MacEwan Griffins on Sunday afternoon.

They almost did more than that, nearly pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent ACAC men's hockey history.

But the Griffins found a way, recovering from two different deficits to defeat the Thunder 4-2 in a do-or-die Game 3 and win the quarter-final series 2-1.

"We faced a lot of adversity in a number of different ways in this series," said Griffins head coach Mike Ringrose. "We've got a young group and we needed to learn how to win in the playoffs. I think we're going to be better for it moving forward. We certainly did learn how to win.

"Those were hotly-contested games and Concordia played a hell of a series. They were well prepped, they executed well, and they worked exceptionally hard and pushed our guys. It challenged us and, in the end, I truly believe we'll be better for it."

Andrew Kartusch came up huge again for the Griffins, netting his second game-winner of the series when he ripped a shot off the post and in with just 6:52 remaining.

"I just saw the puck pop out and I just fired it," he said of jumping on a loose puck that resulted from a strong forecheck by MacEwan's Kole Gable, Chase Miller and Brett Smythe. "Luckily it went in. I just remember getting the puck on my stick and wiring it."

The second-year defenceman from Red Deer had beaten McCorriston twice in Game 1, including on the game-winner, and was named player of the game for the Griffins for the second time in the series. He didn't care who played hero, just that somebody wearing maroon did.

"As long as we get the win at the end of the day, that's all that matters," said Kartusch. "It could have come from anybody.

"We're lucky to move onto the next round. Concordia played a really, really good three games there. They're a great team. They've got a lot better. We're just excited to get on to the next round."

Andrew Kartusch (not pictured) bulges the twine for the game-winner with 6:52 remaining on Sunday (Jake Bradley photo).

MacEwan now advances to meet Red Deer College in a best-of-three ACAC semifinal series next weekend (exact schedule TBA).

The Thunder are done for the season but can certainly hold their heads high after giving the Griffins all they could handle, especially in the first period on Sunday when their forecheck and hard physical play netted them four breakaways.

Peter Tomaras cashed in on one of those, beating Marc-Olivier Daigle 7:21 into the contest for the game's opening goal. Daigle made a terrific save on Keegan Tiringer just over three minutes later after he also got in behind the MacEwan defence.

With all the momentum and nothing to lose, playing against a team they weren't supposed to beat, the Thunder gave the Griffins little time and space and McCorriston – who blanked the Griffins 2-0 on Saturday – continued to stand tall. His shutout streak finally ended at 151 minutes, 16 seconds when Jordan Taupert came with a strong take on a wraparound from behind the net and tied the game 1-1 with 4:52 left in the first period.

MacEwan began to take over the game in the second period, but Concordia's goaltender wasn't done, making a handful of saves he had no business making, including denying Gable on the doorstep at 8:42 and somehow keeping it out with both Brayden Hyland and Ryan McKinnon whacking away at a rebound with three minutes left in the middle frame.

Tomaras struck again just 13 seconds into the third period with a hot shot from the slot to put Concordia back up 2-1. It was then, though, that the Griffins really hit top gear.

"Game 3, do-or-die, so you've got to give it your all," said Kartusch. "We had a conversation after the second intermission that we've got to give it all we've got or else we were going home.

"I think the boys really rallied in the dressing room and luckily we came out with the win again."

Captain Cam Gotaas tied the game with 16:40 left when he tapped in a loose rebound off Nicolas Correale's powerplay shot.

Then Kartusch played hero.

"He's got a good shot when you give him the opportunity," said Ringrose. "He gets it through from the point and if you get him in a spot like that, he doesn't miss often. He's such a huge part of our team on both sides of the puck. I was happy to see him get it."

Taupert added an empty netter with 1:03 remaining to ice it.

It was as big a lesson in triumphing over adversity that the young Griffins are going to get.

"We knew we'd been the better team today," said Ringrose. "We started to pull away on the shot clock and the possession numbers started to turn, so we believed what we were doing was going to work in the end.

"We stayed with it. That's not an easy thing to do, but again another important lesson for us to learn."

Daigle made 24 saves and finished the series with a .950 save percentage. McCorriston had 30 saves for a .945 mark over the three games. 

For all the talk how hot Concordia goaltender Tanner McCorriston was in the series, Marc-Olivier Daigle was pretty great in his own right, posting a sizzling .950 save percentage, stopping 95 of 100 Thunder shots over the three-game series (Jake Bradley photo).