Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
CALGARY – It's a tough thing having two Achilles' heels.
The MacEwan Griffins men's soccer team overcame one of them on Saturday: that dastardly slow start that has shown up too often this season.
After conceding two early goals to the University of Calgary Dinos, the Griffins fought back to tie them 2-2.
Unfortunately, their other bad heel – set pieces – got them in the end as Calgary scored off a free kick in the 57th minute to record a 3-2 win that puts MacEwan's playoff hopes on life support.
"It's kind of been an Achilles' heel for us all season – our slow starts," agreed MacEwan head coach Adam Loga. "We spotted them a two-goal lead early and had to show resilience to come back and tie the game, and we did that. But again, between slow starts and set pieces, we came up short.
"In the run of play, we win the game 2-1. Unfortunately, we can't seem to figure this out."
MacEwan falls to 3-7-2 with just two games left in the 2018 season and they will likely need to win both to capture the first post-season berth in program history.
Calgary is now 5-5-1 and in the driver's seat for home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs – a spot the Griffins once had in their grasp before recording just two points in their last seven games.
"Every loss, especially this season with how close we are has been tough," said Loga. "Fortunately, some teams are helping us out. We're still in it, so we've got to refocus and get three points tomorrow."
They will visit Mount Royal University (3-7-1) on Sunday (1:30 p.m., SAIT's Cohos Common Field), doing battle against a team that is fighting for the same playoff spot they are. The Cougars are also coming in off a loss after falling 4-0 to Alberta on Saturday.
If there was a positive to pull out of Saturday's game for the Griffins, it's that rookie striker Everett Orgnero scored his seventh goal of the season, as he continues to expand the school's Canada West record he broke earlier this season.
The Calgarian's tally was MacEwan's second of the contest, scored in the 51st minute when he juked through the Calgary defence and beat keeper Jake Ruschkowski.
"Everett's putting together something pretty special this season, especially as a rookie coming in," said Loga, who once coached Orgnero at Edge School in Calgary. "I'm very happy to have him. I'm happy for him, happy for his family and I'm very pleased he chose MacEwan."
Brian Mayall scored the Griffins' other goal in the 23rd minute when he blasted one into the twine from 25 yards out.
"Brian took a strike from about 25-30 out that fooled the goalkeeper," said Loga of his senior's third tally of the season. "Great strike."
The Dinos gained a 2-0 advantage when Dominik Zuczek scored off a corner kick in the 10th minute and Derek Brust beat keeper Marko Vranjkovic in the 20th minute.
With tensions running high, both teams returned to play a chaotic second half in which a total of five bookings were issued.
The first booking was issued at the 55th minute issued to Griffins midfielder Malcolm Stafford. Just seconds later, Zuczek responded with his second goal of the game in the 56th minute on a rebound of his initial free kick attempt to make it 3-2 – the goal that would end up as the winner.
MacEwan almost scored right before that when Ruschkowski robbed Liam Creek on a header.
But it wasn't meant to be for the Griffins, whose efforts to tie the contest late were hampered when Alexander Mosca received his second yellow card of the contest in the 89th minute, putting MacEwan a man short for the waning moments.
-With files from Dinos Athletics
