Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Gutting it out in frigid temperatures, the MacEwan Griffins and Saskatchewan Huskies went back and forth faster than the snow flurries were flying under bone-chilling conditions at Clareview Field on Saturday afternoon.
In a game that could have gone either way, the Huskies found the finish when it counted, scoring in the 67th minute and adding an insurance marker in the 85th to win 2-0 and improve their chances of making the Canada West playoffs.
Indeed it was a result that may have post-season implications for both teams, as the Huskies improve to 3-5-1, while the Griffins fall to 3-6-1.
"It's an important result," said Saskatchewan head coach Bryce Chapman. "I thought over the last weekend we had good performances but we didn't get maximum points.
"Coming in this weekend, we knew Adam (Loga's) done a heckuva job with this team and we knew we were in tough. Those points were very valuable today."
Saskatchewan, MacEwan, Mount Royal and Calgary are in a dogfight for places 2-5 in the Prairie Division and one team will miss the dance.
Early in the season, the Griffins were in the driver's seat for second, but after suffering their fourth-straight defeat on Saturday, they're running out of time. With four games remaining in the regular season – all against divisional opponents – they need wins … and fast.
"As mentioned earlier in this week's preview (story), we're out of freebies," said head coach Loga. "We have to find a way to find some W's down the stretch if we want to keep our hopes alive."
Saturday's game was there for the taking and MacEwan had their fair share of chances in the first half to open the scoring. Their best came in the eighth minute when Everett Orgnero, who came into the contest with five goals in his past four games, unleashed a dangerous shot from the middle of the box off a corner kick, but Huskies keeper Greg Buckley caught it.
Saskatchewan missed a chance to open the scoring in the 17th minute when a MacEwan defender fell, giving Gabriel Buatois a wide open chance from the top of the box, but he rushed the shot and slid it wide left.
"I think both teams had chances in the first half," said Chapman. "We were pleased with the first half not to give anything up and with what we created.
"We just spoke about making sure we were getting players beyond lines and not standing and watching one person do one thing."
That was key midway through the second half as Saskatchewan built up a promising play in the 67th minute with several passes before Kwame Opoku dished it off to Buatois on the right and he buried a far-side blast past MacEwan keeper Marko Vranjkovic.
"I thought that was a great collective effort, to be honest," said Chapman. "There were three or four players involved with Gabby eventually finishing it away."
The Griffins spent much of the remainder of the game opening up their shape in an attempt to tie the contest, but it seemed they always fell a touch short of the right finish.
"Our buildup was very good today, we just struggled in the attacking zone," said Loga. "It's unfortunate."
With the Griffins aiming for the equalizer, the Huskies had a few dangerous counter-attacks late in the game. And on one of them, a MacEwan defender deflected Tyler Redl's blast from the left side into his own net.
So, Saskatchewan gets the three points, while MacEwan walks away empty-handed despite filling up a pretty nice stats-sheet: 12-6 on corner kicks, while only taking half the fouls that the Huskies did. Saskatchewan did outshoot MacEwan 16-15 (7-3 in shots on goal).
"Obviously, it's disappointing," said Loga. "I thought we did enough to get a result today, but unfortunately possession and attacking corner kicks and those analytics don't amount to what's important, which are the goals on the scoreboard."
Saskatchewan's Buckley made three saves for the shutout, while Vranjkovic made five, including a beautiful diving stop off Saskatchewan's Tobias Hyrich-Krueger in the 71st minute.
The Griffins will regroup and host Lethbridge on Sunday (2:30 p.m., Clarke Stadium), while Saskatchewan stays overnight in Edmonton and visits Alberta (2:15 p.m., Foote Field).
