MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Marc-Olivier Daigle made 34 saves and the opportunistic MacEwan Griffins had a goal on each special teams unit as they handed the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference-leading NAIT Ooks just their second regulation loss of the season – 4-1 on Friday night.

In a chippy rematch of the ACAC final that was won by the Griffins last March, MacEwan got a goal each from Nolan Yaremchuk, Cam Gotaas, Brett Smythe and Brett Njaa to improve to 13-6-0 on the season. NAIT still sits atop the ACAC with a 15-2-1-1 mark.

Drawing assists on the Griffins' first and last goals of the evening affair at the Downtown Community Arena, rookie Tyler Mrkonjic upped his torrid January points streak to 11 points in his last five games.

With the Griffins enjoying a two-man advantage at the 5:53 mark of the first period, Yaremchuk opened the scoring when he tipped Tyler Morrison's point blast past NAIT goaltender Nathan Park.

The Ooks replied at 16:55 of the second period off Daigle's lone bobble of the night. With Austin Yaremchuk in the penalty box for interference, NAIT's Corey Chorneyko chipped the puck along the wall into the zone. In Daigle's attempt to play it behind the net, it deflected off his stick and right out front to Tanner Dunkle, who hit an empty net.

That certainly could have rattled the Griffins, but they kept coming, regaining the lead with 8:44 left in the middle frame when Jacob Schofield's shot from the right trickled through Park's legs and sat untouched for an agonizing few seconds in the crease. Gotaas got their first to put what would stand up as the game-winner away.

Then, inside the final three minutes of the second period, the Griffins really put the screws to the Ooks, scoring twice to salt the victory away.

With NAIT on the powerplay and pressing for the equalizer, Daigle made a great save before Brett Smythe picked defenceman Jordan Davies' pocket and raced in alone, deking out Park for a short-handed tally at 2:53.

With 55 seconds left in the frame, Sean MacTavish's shot sifted through a defenceman and on net before Njaa – standing all alone in front – put the rebound past Park.

ICE CHIPS … The teams combined for 48 minutes in penalties during the contest … Park made 25 saves for the Ooks in a losing effort … Smythe and Dunkle were named players of the game for their respective squads … The teams will meet again on Saturday night (6 p.m., NAIT Arena).