Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Hoping to finish the semester on a high note Saturday, the MacEwan men's hockey team was instead way off key in a tough 11-2 loss to their cross-town rival Alberta Golden Bears.
The Griffins took 49 penalty minutes in the scrappy, physical affair and conceded three powerplay goals in an ugly loss that kept them two points behind Manitoba for the final playoff spot in the Canada West conference.
After a weekend sweep to the Golden Bears, which also included Friday's 4-1 loss at home, MacEwan is now 6-10-0 as they failed to gain ground on the idle Bisons. Alberta improves to 13-4-1 and are in second place.
"I think that our guys were not ready to do the things we needed to do to be successful," said MacEwan interim head coach Zack Dailey. "We looked very tired. There's lots of excuses we could pull, but at the end of the day, this is a game and you've got to show up and play, and we weren't ready to do that."
There would be excuses to pull, such as how the Griffins have been playing the past seven games with only five defencemen as the rest of their rearguards heal up from various injuries. They've also been down to 11 forwards recently.
No surprise with a lack of depth, they finished the first semester on a five-game losing streak.
On Saturday, the Golden Bears outshot the Griffins 57-23, chasing starter Thomas Davis from the net in the third period after he allowed eight goals on 43 shots. Ashton Abel allowed three goals against on 14 shots in mop-up duty for the final 13:52.
Ethan Strang scored twice for the Griffins to tie the program's rookie single game goals record, while both Merritt Oszytko and Jordan Taupert produced two assists.
Now, it's a time for some self-reflection and for the team to heal up over the next month before the Griffins return to action against Calgary Jan. 6-7.
Dailey took a moment to assess the first semester, which was filled with extreme highs – four wins over some of the top teams in U SPORTS, including against the Golden Bears on Oct. 7 – and extreme lows, like Saturday night.
"Realistically, I think we've done a pretty good job, probably exceeded some expectations of others," said Dailey. "I think as a group we know what we're capable of, so I don't think we're surprised as a hockey team, but I think others might be.
"Lots of work to do, though," he added. "We didn't end on a very good note. We've lost five games in a row and they weren't even close games, so we have a lot of work to do.
"We're happy to be able to get guys healthy and dress a full lineup hopefully in the second half. But we just have to work on consistency. We have good games and we have bad games – it's up and down all the time. We have to work on consistent efforts – doing things right the whole game and hopefully we'll get results."
