Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – They need no reminders of what's at stake this week.
As the Griffins men's soccer team prepares for the final three games of their 2023 regular season, they know they need to win at least two of them, and possibly all in order to qualify for the playoffs.
MacEwan (2-6-3) will visit Saskatchewan (1-7-4) on Thursday (7 p.m.), Lethbridge (3-4-5) on Saturday (2 p.m.) and host Thompson Rivers University on Sunday (2 p.m., Jasper Place Bowl, all games Canada West TV).
The latter is a makeup contest from Sept. 17 when the match with TRU was postponed due to the air quality index.
"It's kind of another day at the office," said Griffins head coach Adam Loga. "We know what's at stake, but we keep progressing and developing as a group.
"We did have some hurdles along the way, given some eligibility issues, losing a couple guys unexpectedly and some injuries. But it's all coming together at the right time here. We just keep building and hopefully we can come out on top this weekend."
The Griffins enter the weekend five points behind Lethbridge for the final playoff spot in the Canada West Prairie Division with a game in hand.
Another chance at a playoff spot lies in catching Calgary (4-6-3), who are six points ahead, but MacEwan has played two fewer games and holds the tiebreaker on the Dinos.
The Griffins are coming off a solid weekend of play with back-to-back ties against Calgary and nationally-ranked Mount Royal and were the better team in both matches.
They're certainly trending in the right direction.
"We drew and were probably hard done by with a draw against No. 5 in the country," said Loga of a 1-1 tie vs. MRU on Sunday. "We know we have the talent here. It just takes time. In such a short season, time isn't always necessarily on your side.
"Our philosophy as a staff is we develop the human and athlete first before results. That's what we've been doing and you're starting to see it really start to pay dividends in terms of what we're showing on the field and our game model, system, and personality as a unity. Hopefully it isn't too little, too late here."
