Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Every time the ball hits the post or another fortunate break on the pitch comes Dory Elliott's way, he feels his mother's presence.

Karen Elliott, who sadly passed away from cancer in May 2014, remains an angel on the shoulder of the MacEwan Griffins starting goalkeeper.

"She was kind of the person that would (keep me on track)," he said. "When I didn't want to go to practice, she'd be the one that would say 'no, you're going to practice.'

"She was my best friend when it came to soccer," Elliott added. "She took me to every practice, every game and came on every road trip with me."

But just as he was experiencing the greatest highs of his youth career – attending Team Canada's U15 training camp and subsequently earning a spot in the prestigious Vancouver Whitecaps Academy – his mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer after discovering a lump in her jaw. She never got to see him head to Vancouver, which he did in Grade 10.

"I guess when she passed away, I wanted to make her proud, in a sense, by going to the Whitecaps and playing soccer," said Elliott. "Even though it didn't work out, I'm still glad that I went and got the experience."

Unfortunately, he was cut after one season at the academy – "You have to be immensely better than a homegrown player because they're basically paying $25,000 a year for a player that's not from their city to play there."

That led to Elliott quitting soccer outright. In the span of two summers, he went from national team radar to out of the game entirely.

This is where MacEwan Griffins head coach Adam Loga entered the picture.

"We knew we needed a goalkeeper moving into this season, so I was reaching out to friends all over North America, to be honest, and I got a call with regards to Dory and his pedigree and background," said Loga, who picked up the phone to try to convince Elliott to take up the game again.

"He was a bit apprehensive at first – but I continued to be persistent and got to know him a little better," he added. "We're lucky and blessed that he was able to turn the corner and come back to us. I think it's very special and we feel very honoured not only as a program but as a staff that he chose to come back with our group.

"With what he's endured, I think that's very humbling for us, for sure."

Elliott will lead the Griffins into a pair of home matches this weekend as they welcome UNBC (2-3-3) on Saturday (Noon) and University of Fraser Valley (1-4-1) on Sunday (2:30 p.m.).

"Teams in our division have knocked off UNBC, so I think it's important that we keep pace with them to keep our playoff chances alive," said Loga. "It's coming to that point now where we need to get results. We've played great, but it's a game of results."

For Elliott, it's tough enough being a first-year player in Canada West, but when you're playing such a vital role for a team that is coming off a 2-11-3 season and you haven't played in more than a year? Now that's a learning curve.

"He had to shake off a little bit of rust, but he's been persistent and determined and dedicated to getting back into the form that he had," said Loga of Elliott. "This weekend, score line aside (1-0 and 5-0 losses to Victoria and UBC), he was phenomenal for us Friday and Saturday.

"He's a young kid with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the game already. I'm so excited for him moving forward."

There's nowhere to go but up on a rising Griffins team that is going through the arduous process of becoming a competitive Canada West program. There are growing pains for Elliott and the many other youngsters in the fold as they aim to improve upon a 1-5-0 record so far in 2017.

"I don't really have anything to lose, so that's where that confidence comes from," said Elliott. "The guys are confident in me, which makes me more confident in myself. From there, it's just getting better each day we train and each game we play."

He's also rediscovered his passion for the game.

"I played so much every day for the first 10 years of my life that it kind of started to feel like it was a job," he said on why he left the game. "Now it feels like a hobby. I look forward to doing it every day. The coaching staff, everyone's welcoming. I love the players. It's really just the environment I'm playing in that makes it easy to want to do it."

And you can bet his mom will, as usual, be looking down on him.

"I know she'd be happy that I'm playing again," he said. "All she wanted was for me to get an education from it and now that's what I'm getting through MacEwan."