Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – While the run of play was relatively even, the visiting Calgary Dinos set themselves apart on set pieces, scoring off a corner kick and a free kick to defeat the MacEwan Griffins 2-0 on Sunday.
Dinos midfielder Gianmarco Plenzik had his fingerprints all over the victory, taking the corner on the 26thminute game-winning header by Jacob Hunter and later scoring the insurance marker in the 83rd off a sneaky free kick play by Spencer McCallum.
The Griffins were unable to convert on a few good chances off set pieces themselves.
"We've had some issues with them in the past," said Griffins head coach Adam Loga. "I don't know if I'd say it's an issue right now. But two set pieces against. We had a ton of corners this weekend and set pieces on the attacking side, too, and we didn't finish. We didn't score goals of either. In the run of play, we did pretty well."
Calgary outshot MacEwan 14-8 (7-5 on goal), but both sides had chances to score more. With the result, the Griffins fall to 0-3-1, while the Dinos improve to 2-1-2.
"The first half, I thought we sat back too much and came out a bit more aggressive on the front foot in the second half," said Loga. "Again, we're showing we can play with any team in this conference. It's a matter of getting a little bit of luck.
"Kind of what I've been telling the boys – some of the details are missing. What they see as maybe minor details – inches here or inches there … it hurts us and ends up the back of our net."
Plenzik's corner kick on the Dinos' first goal was an inspired offering that sailed into a wash of bodies at the far side of the box. Hunter found the right seam and blasted in a header.
On the Dinos' second goal, McCallum lined up dangerously just outside the box, but instead of curling it over the wall as most do from such a prime position, he dished right to Plenzik, who was unmarked and in alone, and he made no mistake.
MacEwan's best early chance came off the boot of Rakan Yassin, who sent a 23rd minute free kick from the top of the box over the wall – a ball that was heading inside the left post before Calgary goalkeeper Hany Shafie laid out to parry it away.
Shafie, who finished with a five-save shutout, had to lay out again in the 56th when Felix Guité was sent in on a partial break.
MacEwan goalkeeper Oleksandr Popravka, who stopped 9 of 10 against Mount Royal a day earlier, was again busy, stopping five of seven shots on target against Calgary.
He made several point-blank saves, including a diving stop in the 31st minute when he robbed Plenzik from the middle of the box, and a potential save of the year candidate in the 81st as he stopped a nuke from 10 feet from McCallum, who was in alone on the right side.
"He's class," said Loga. "He's showing that he's elite in this conference. He made some game saving saves when we were against a wave. We have all the trust in the world in him."
MacEwan Game MVP went to defender Lucio Rivera, who put in back-to-back 90-minute shifts for the Griffins on the back line this weekend.
"I thought he had a rough weekend last weekend, but we had a long chat throughout the week and he came out this weekend and did really well," said Loga. "We moved him to the right side – he's a bit more comfortable there. And he looked more like himself. Last week, he just wasn't himself and he found himself this weekend."
Next up for the Griffins is a long B.C. road trip to Thompson Rivers on Sept. 13 in Kamloops, followed by a visit at UNBC on Sunday in Prince George.
