Declan Riley / For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins fell 3-0 to the NAIT Ooks in the first game of a home-and-home ACAC weekend series on Friday night at NAIT Arena.
Playing in the first contest that counts in the standings between the teams since the Griffins captured league championship at NAIT Arena last March, the Ooks rode a 36-save shutout from goalie Nathan Park to their fifth win as many games this season.
The Griffins and Ooks battled hard in the first period with excellent defensive work from freshman Jake Kohlhauser and veteran goaltender Chris Way.
With 7:15 to go, Griffins were called for a hooking penalty, putting the goal-hungry Ooks on the power play. Just seconds after the Griffins' penalty expired, Ooks forward Jake Mykitiuk dropped into the slot to rifle home the first goal of the game at 5:13.
Attempting to even the score, MacEwan started the second period strong on the power play but were unable to capitalize. As the period continued, both teams traded rushes down the ice. At 13:40 Brett Smythe had a near miss in front of the net. The play in the crease lead to a scrum in front of the NAIT net, leading to coincidental penalties.
Play became increasingly more chippy with multiple intimate conversations post whistle between Griffins and Ooks players. Staying away from the physical play, Jacob Schofield and Smythe excelled, both with multiple rushes and shots on net but Park continued to stand on his head and maintain his shutout.
Both teams came out of the gate fast and hard to start the third, laying the body and playing aggressive in the corner. With NAIT back on the powerplay, Dunkle scored an insurance marker for the Ooks.
Dunkle then added another just a minute later at 12:08, capitalizing on a turnover in the Griffins' defensive zone.
At 7:49, NAIT's Brett Magee laid a hit from behind on Schofield and was assessed a 10-minute misconduct. The Griffins were still unable to beat Park on the ensuing powerplay.
With less than two minutes to go, NAIT defenceman Macklin Pichonsky received a high-sticking penalty, putting the Griffins on one last powerplay. Although they had multiple chances, the Griffins couldn't find a way to beat Park.
"I didn't think we executed really well tonight," said Griffins interim head coach Michael Ringrose. "The effort was there, but execution and structure on our game plan wasn't, so we'll regroup and get back it tomorrow."
The Griffins (2-3-0) will host the Ooks (5-0-0) in the rematch on Saturday night (6 p.m., Downtown Community Arena).
"Losing like that 3-0 without being able to capitalize on our opportunities really hurts," said Schofield, MacEwan's player of the game. "It's a pretty sore feeling after the game, but we have another one tomorrow and that's the beauty of hockey – there's always another game."
Wray made 33 saves in a losing effort for the Griffins.
