Three Stars: Morrell, Carter, Lalor earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Women's soccer student-athlete Maya Morrell is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after scoring four goals in a pair of weekend victories.
Morrell scored twice to pace MacEwan to a 5-0 win over Regina on Saturday before also netting a brace to lead the Griffins past Saskatchewan 4-1 on Sunday.
Men's soccer midfielder Chance Carter and women's basketball guard Hayley Lalor were named second and third stars, respectively.
Morrell cracks the list for the second time this season after also earning first star on Sept. 13 and Carter is also on there for the second time after also earning second star on Sept. 6. Lalor is making her first appearance of 2022-23.
1st STAR: Maya Morrell, F, women's soccer
Vancouver, AB, fourth-year, Arts
On the final regular season weekend of her Griffins career, Morrell overwhelmed her opponents and led MacEwan to two victories with four goals.
In Saturday's 5-0 drubbing of Regina, Morrell scored the game-winner just 1:59 into the game, then added her second just 11:23 in. She finished the game with seven shots – six on goal – in 78 minutes on the pitch.
In Sunday's 4-1 walloping of Saskatchewan, the Vancouver product decided to add two more, scoring the game-winner on a breakaway in the 55th minute and adding an insurance marker, MacEwan's third of the game, in the 67th. She finished with five shots, three on target in a sterling 90-minute performance on Senior Day.
For the season, Morrell finished with eight goals and 11 points – tied for the second-best goals output in the program's Canada West history and third-most points.
On Sunday, she broke the program record for shots in a season, finishing with 56, eclipsing the old mark of 51 set by Suekiana Choucair in 2016.
2nd STAR: Chance Carter, M, men's soccer
Edmonton, AB, second-year, Science
Chance Carter, seen in action earlier this season at UNBC, scored the lone goal for the Griffins in a 3-1 loss to Alberta on Saturday (Rich Abney photo).
Coming into Saturday's game at half-time, the midfielder made an instant impact, scoring 59 seconds after coming onto the field.
Unfortunately, it would be MacEwan's only goal in a 3-1 defeat at Alberta, but the impact the midfielder made is important for a Griffins team still in a playoff position entering the final weekend of the regular season.
Carter, who also had two shots in the game, will lead the Griffins into road action at Calgary on Saturday (2:15 p.m.) and at Mount Royal University on Sunday (3 p.m., both Canada West TV).
A win over the Dinos would clinch a playoff spot for MacEwan and put them ahead of Calgary into third place in the Prairie Division on account of winning the season series.
For the season, Carter, who has missed some time with an injury, has a goal and three points in six games.
3rd STAR: Hayley Lalor, G, women's basketball
Red Deer, AB, fourth-year, Science
Hayley Lalor made the all-star team and led MacEwan to wins in two of their three games at a weekend non-conference tournament hosted by McGill University (Robert Antoniuk photo).
The fourth-year guard had an outstanding run at the non-conference McGill University Tournament in Montreal on the weekend.
Lalor was named to the tournament all-star team after leading MacEwan to two wins in three games.
Against host McGill on Friday, Lalor produced nine points, four rebounds and a steal in MacEwan's 59-57 loss to the team that would eventually win the tournament.
Against Laurentian University on Saturday, Lalor led MacEwan to a 65-58 win with a double double, netting 11 points and 10 rebounds, while adding five assists and three steals.
MacEwan closed out the tourney with a 68-62 win over Laurier on Sunday and Lalor again was a big contributor with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.
Lalor and the Griffins are next in exhibition action vs. UNBC on Oct. 28 (7 p.m., David Atkinson Gym).
