Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Facing a wide variety of challenging situations, the MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team recently finished wrapping up a gauntlet of invaluable preseason preparation.
The biggest challenge of all was the sheer volume as head coach Dean Cordeiro put his troops through eight games in the span of 11 days, six of which were played on the road. They went 6-1-1 and generally passed the test with flying colours.
"In all those games, we were challenged in different ways," said Cordeiro, who managed playing time for everyone by alternating games for his starters. "That's what you want to get out of the preseason. We're at the point now where we can't wait to get started. Now it's final preparations and shaping the team a little bit more. Then we'll be ready to go for that home opener on Sept. 7."
After beating Concordia University of Edmonton twice, first in a scrimmage and then in an official preseason match on Aug. 15, the Griffins hit the road for a three-game trip against U.S. teams Aug. 17-19. They fell 4-2 to Eastern Washington before blanking both the University of Montana and Carroll College 2-0 – two teams which won conference championships a season ago.
"That was a great performance against the (NCAA Div. 1) University of Montana and then Carroll College is one of the top NAIA programs," said Cordeiro. "The takeaway from those two games … there were tons of positives and lessons learned in terms of growing for us as a program.
"The only one we'd like to have back is that first half against Eastern Washington to kick things off. Other than that, the other five halves we played, we were pretty stellar and impressive. I've really liked how the girls have been growing this preseason."
MacEwan had some bus legs against Eastern Washington after getting into Cheney, Wash. after a long trip from Edmonton late the night before.
"We were a little bit shattered and it was a quick turnaround," said Cordeiro. "They jumped on us early – scored two goals quick – and it kind of woke us up and it was an even match after that. It was good to kind of get a wakeup call. It showed the next day where we were at.
"It was a big accomplishment (to beat Montana) and it was a hell of a game," he added. "Our girls really stepped up."
Following the win over Helena, Mont.-based Carroll College, the Griffins returned to Edmonton in the wee hours of Aug. 20, only to hop on a bus the next day bound for Regina and the Great Plains Challenge preseason tournament, which featured all Canada West competition.
"Playing six games in eight days, we were joking we were a travelling band," said Cordeiro. "I think we stayed in five different hotels. That takes its toll, as well. We got in late Monday night from Montana, at about three in the morning, and the following day we left for Regina.
"It was a bit grueling, but we're trying to have our girls face some adversity early in camp because we know once we get into the season, it's never easy," he added. "For us, you've got to understand it's going to get uncomfortable at times as the season wears on. You've got to find ways to persevere."
Despite the travel, MacEwan jumped all over Winnipeg on Aug. 22 and rolled to a 6-0 win.
"It was very impressive," said Cordeiro. "I think we caught a lot of teams' attention. It really kind of stacked up how our next two games were going to be. Winnipeg tried to go toe-to-toe with us and we broke through. Part of that was Meagan Lemoine was at another level. She had a hat trick in 19 minutes and was just unstoppable. Once you get on a team early, it's tough to recover."
However, MacEwan's Aug. 23 opponent – Manitoba – was watching intently and busy creating a game plan to disrupt the Griffins' ball control style. They got physical and forced the Griffins to fight from behind to salvage a 2-2 draw.
"They were very, very physical and tried to bully us around the park and get under our skin to force us to get out of our rhythm," said Cordeiro. "Credit Manitoba, they did a very good job. For a preseason match, we found ourselves fighting to the final whistle and ended up getting a 2-2 draw. It was a game where nothing came easy.
"It was good to see where we were at against a team that was very well organized and played to make things difficult on us," he added. "You couldn't ask for a better game for preseason. It felt like a regular season game and we were trying to problem-solve."
In their final game of the tournament against host Regina on Aug. 24, MacEwan saw more adversity when they went behind 1-0 on a first half penalty kick and had to fight back to net a 3-1 victory.
"Being down at the half made that 45 mean a lot more," said Cordeiro. "It was good to see. The competition was great. Regina did a really good job, and so did Manitoba and Winnipeg. Every game is different.
"All in all, to summarize, we couldn't have asked for a better set of preseason games."
The Griffins now get set for their home-opening weekend against Mount Royal University (Sept. 7, Noon, Clareview Field) and Lethbridge (Sept. 8, Noon, Clarke Stadium, both games Canada West TV).
