MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – A shift to regional competition is the theme of the 2024 schedule for the MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team, who are looking to repeat as Canada West Prairie Division champions and make it back to the U SPORTS nationals.
The Griffins won't play any teams from the B.C. Division during the 2024 Canada West regular season and will instead get a chance to build rivalries with their Prairie Division opponents.
"We're looking forward to the upcoming season," said head coach Dean Cordeiro. "Obviously, we've got big goals. We want to win our division again like we did last year and that would really kick-start things going into the playoff cross-over.
"For us, it's more about rekindling some of those rivalries, both home and away, with some of our Prairie competition. We're looking forward to a little bit of a different format for the coming year."
The Griffins will open the season Sept. 7-8on the road at Saskatchewan and Regina with their home opener slated for Sept. 14 vs. Calgary.
In a shift from previous seasons that saw them bouncing between Clarke Stadium and Clareview Field, all Griffins home games will be played indoors at the Edmonton Scottish Dome.
SEE THE FULL 2024 SCHEDULE HERE
Among their 14-game regular season schedule, the Griffins will face all seven Prairie Division foes once home and once away.
"The positive of it is it's a balanced schedule – you play everyone home and away," said Cordeiro. "It will be nice to ensure the seeding is correct going into the playoff round."
Senior Day (the Griffins' final regular season home game) is set for Oct. 12 vs. Alberta.
MacEwan's final three games of the season are on the road, concluding Oct. 20 at Calgary.
The highest remaining Prairie Division seed after the Canada West quarter-finals (Oct. 25-27 weekend) will host the Final Four tournament (Nov. 1-3).
MacEwan is bidding for a return to the U SPORTS nationals for the first time since 2021 when they won the national championship.
They need to finish among the top three Canada West teams to qualify for the U SPORTS Championship Nov. 7-10 at Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S.