MacEwan Athletics and Concordia Athletics

EDMONTON – Led by a pair of goals each from Nakehko Lamothe and Cameron Gotaas, the MacEwan Griffins lit the goal lamp early and often in a 7-2 victory over cross-town rival Concordia on Friday night.

"I was happy. It was close to a complete effort for us," said Griffins interim head coach Michael Ringrose. "We pushed the pace on them and challenged them to play with us.

"We were able to finish around the net, so all in all, it was a good night for us. It was a good start to the weekend."

Brett Njaa got the party started at the Bill Hunter Arena – the one-time Griffins' home base – just 57 seconds into the game with his first of the season. Lamothe then pushed the lead to 2-0 with his first just before the break.

The Thunder cut the Griffins lead in half 4:56 into the second period with a breakaway goal from Adam Wheeldon. But the comeback was short lived as MacEwan was quick to answer with a three-goal barrage from Lamothe, Ryan Benn and Dallas Smith to lead 5-1 after two periods of play.

The Griffins continued to pour it on in the third period with two-straight goals from Gotaas to put the game out of reach. Tyler Benko had Concordia's other tally.

Austin Yaremchuk had three assists for the Griffins, while Ryan Baskerville had two helpers and now has six points in his last three games.

Lamothe was named MacEwan's player of the game. Christopher Wray made 24 saves for the victory.

"The line of Smith, Lamothe and Baskerville have been exceptional," said Ringrose. "The way they're forechecking, the way they're hunting the puck, the work they're doing is really setting them up for success offensively.

"They seem to have found some chemistry together and it's nice to see them get rewarded."

The win, their third straight, pushes MacEwan's record to 5-4-0 on the season, while Concordia falls to 3-5-1. The teams will meet in the rematch on Saturday night (6 p.m., Downtown Community Arena).