Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Officially eliminated from playoff contention following a 4-1 loss to the Alberta Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon at Foote Field, the MacEwan Griffins were left to reflect on what could have been.
After a promising 3-2-1 start that seemed destined to end with the first Canada West playoff berth in program history, the Griffins' train derailed, and they limped to the finish line with just two points in their final nine games.
"We let ourselves down a bit over the last four weeks or so," said MacEwan head coach Adam Loga. "It's disappointing and it hurts, but the bigger loss will be if we don't carry this with us into the off-season and remember this feeling come next season.
"We're a young group and this feeling's going to help us grow even more so as a program."
It's a tough feeling in the moment, for sure, though. The Golden Bears completed an undefeated season (12-0-2) on the backs of their stars Easton Ongaro, who scored a natural hat-trick, and Ajeej Sarkaria, who also scored and had seven shots on goal to finish the season with 37 – the second-most in a single Canada West season.
"At the end of the day, the University of Alberta has Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin up top for them," said Loga. "So, dealing with those two for 90 minutes, they're going to nick something.
"Between Easton Ongaro and Ajeej Sarkaria, they're tough to handle and they found a way today."
Ongaro opened the Bears scoring just 19 minutes in, taking a feed from Sarkaria inside the Griffins box, and beating MacEwan starter Marko Vranjkovic on a bullet into the corner.
The sophomore Bear doubled the Alberta lead 20 minutes later, tapping in a pass from Tomasz Chodorski. The goal stood, despite MacEwan protests that Ongaro was offside.
"We made a pretty substantial error on our part for the first goal," said Loga.
"Going into the second half, it was 2-0. Liam (Creek) missed a great chance to make it 2-1, unfortunately. Then it kind of dominoed from there."
Ongaro recorded the hat-trick on a fantastic solo effort from inside the MacEwan end in the 54th minute.
Sarkaria put the game well out of reach just four minutes later, scoring his 10th of the season from in tight after receiving a great pass from fifth-year midfielder Ivan Borka.
MacEwan star forward Everett Orgnero was finally able to get the visitors on the board in the 59th, beating Bears starter Connor James with an absolute rocket from distance, his eighth goal of the campaign.
The rookie Calgarian wound up shattering the MacEwan record for most goals in a Canada West season, doubling the previous mark of four twice reached by Lahai Mansaray.
"He was great for us," said Loga of Orgnero. "I think this was an important season for him. He has aspirations to play at a higher level. Coming into the university level and this conference, in particular, he challenged himself and he set personal goals for himself and he met them.
"I think he's got to keep working, he's got to stay humble and there's a bright future for him ahead."
Collectively, too, the Griffins have a bright future ahead. The strides the program made this season can't be discounted. The 2018 team was the most competitive the program has fielded since joining Canada West in 2014 and were in playoff contention until the very end, something that hasn't happened around these parts.
They had big wins over Calgary and Mount Royal earlier in the season and managed to tie Trinity Western with a roster mostly comprised of U19 players who are only going to get better.
"Most of our roster of 18 week-in and week-out were first and second years," said Loga. "Even some of our second years were still first-year age.
"So, I think, belief (is our takeaway). I think they're really starting to understand we can play and compete. We do need to get better defensively and on set pieces, and obviously some other tactical things, but I think although we're disappointed, we're very excited to attack the off-season come January."
-With files from Alberta Athletics
