MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – They sent shot after shot in on Olds College goaltender Jaydlin Spooner on Friday night – 50 in total when the smoke cleared – but the MacEwan Griffins couldn't beat her more than once.
Backed by their strong netminder, the visiting Broncos stunned the Griffins in double overtime to score a 2-1 victory at the Downtown Community Arena and split the weekend series of ACAC action.
With 3:23 left in the second extra frame, Krista Wilson took a pass from Tori Chenier and deked out Griffins goalie Natalie Bender, making good on the Broncos' 21st shot of the game.
"I think it's a good little wakeup call that we can't get complacent this early in the season," said Griffins head coach Lindsay McAlpine.
"You have to give credit to Olds, too. They come out with intensity every single game. I reiterate that to our players. It doesn't matter if Olds is in the game or seemingly down by five, they play right to the end of the game every single time. It caught us a little bit tonight."
MacEwan still has yet to lose in regulation this season and remain comfortably atop the ACAC standings with an 8-0-2 record. Olds is now 4-6-0.
Despite the loss, the Griffins dominated the play and just have a lack of finish to blame for the result.
"Their goalie played really well, but we also made her look good in a couple of situations where we missed wide open nets, passes cross crease, a breakaway in overtime," said McAlpine. "We just couldn't finish."
Raven Beazer scored the Griffins' lone goal at 13:10 of the first period, deflecting home Carley Jewell's power-play shot from the high slot.
Faith Volk tied it for Olds in the second period, though, before Wilson's winner.
"We just didn't get enough back pressure from our forwards coming into the zone," said McAlpine of the tally. "She zipped it across and then stalled Bender and went backhand. It was a nice finish."
Bender made 19 saves in the defeat. The rookie's school regular season record shutout streak came to an end at 213 minutes and four seconds.
Next action for the Griffins is Nov. 17-18 against NAIT, with the latter contest at the DCA (6 p.m.).
