MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Women's soccer goalkeeper Emily Burns is MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after posting two shutouts over the weekend to keep MacEwan undefeated on the season.
Burns made six saves in a 1-0 win over Alberta last Friday before her four saves preserved a 1-0 win for the Griffins over Mount Royal University.
Other athletes recognized during the past week include second star Marc-Olivier Daigle of the men's hockey team and third star Elizabeth Stewart of the women's golf team.
All three student-athletes are making their first appearance of the season on the MacEwan three stars list.
1ST STAR: Emily Burns, GK, women's soccer (Sherwood Park, third-year, Arts)
Burns, who led Canada West in save percentage in 2016 and was named a second team all-star, currently leads the conference in shutouts with three through the first four games of the 2017 season. Two of those came this past weekend as the undefeated Griffins knocked off two other teams who were previously unbeaten, including nationally-ranked cross-town rival Alberta. Burns was outstanding in the Friday night contest against the Pandas, including making a game-saving diving stop off Alberta's Morgan Corbett in the 53rd minute. Against MRU on Sunday, she was equally stingy, tipping a long-range second-half dipping strike from Emily Sands over the crossbar. For the season, Burns now has a .923 save percentage and 0.27 goals against average – both among the top marks in Canada West.
2ND STAR: Marc-Olivier Daigle, G, men's hockey (Delson, QC, third-year, Commerce)
Marc-Olivier Daigle makes one of his 19 stops against Oilers rookie (and Edmonton Oil Kings star) Trey Fix-Wolansky last Wednesday (Courtesy, Edmonton Oilers).
As the starting goaltender for the MacEwan-NAIT All-Stars going against the Edmonton Oilers rookies last Wednesday, Griffins' Marc-Olivier Daigle quickly shook off the nerves of playing in front of 3,500 fans at Rogers Place. He settled in and made big stops early on Ostap Safin and Evan Polei before absolutely robbing Chad Butcher one a point-blank one-timer in the final minute of the opening frame. Daigle then picked up where he left off in the second period, shutting down Joseph Gambardella on a short-handed breakaway before leaving the net to NAIT's Nathan Smith midway through the period. All total, Daigle stopped all 19 shots he faced, combining with Smith for a 49-save shutout in a 2-0 MacEwan-NAIT victory. Daigle closed out his week by stopping 31 of 33 shots in a 2-1 preseason loss at NAIT last Saturday.
3RD STAR: Elizabeth Stewart, women's golf (Edmonton, fifth-year, Commerce)
Elizabeth Stewart tied for the lowest round in Griffins women's golf history when she fired a 78 last Sunday at the ACAC North Regional (Len Joudrey photo).
After opening the ACAC North Regional with a 90 at Camrose Golf Club, the fifth-year Griffins veteran proceeded to sleep on the tough round and awake refreshed. Her game improved by a dramatic 12 shots on Sunday as she put down a 78 that tied the MacEwan University record for the lowest competitive round ever shot by a Griffins women's golfer. Stewart finished the tournament in a tie for second with teammate Hailey Turcotte as they led the Griffins to the women's team title. The 2015 ACAC women's player of the year will lead MacEwan into the ACAC South Regional tournament in Medicine Hat this weekend.
