Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The only goal Alberta would need in a 4-0 season-ending victory over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday night at Edmonton Scottish came in the 24th minute.
Around the same time in Lethbridge, the Pronghorns were busy wrapping up an emphatic 2-1 win over the Calgary Dinos.
The double whammy around 6:29 p.m. knocked the Griffins men's soccer team out of the playoffs.
MacEwan would have had to beat Alberta and hope Lethbridge didn't pick up a point to have a chance at catching the last playoff spot in the Prairie Division.
There was a game to finish, of course, and MacEwan gave it a run, but found themselves chasing it after Patrick Kondraciuk got a head on Jackson Belbin's terrific midfield free kick to open the scoring.
Prince Amanda (44th minute), Rodane Cato (60th) and Marcus Velado-Tsegaye (86th) led to a 4-0 result that doomed the Griffins to a 3-10-1 record, sixth in the Prairie Division.
Alberta will finish 10-1-3 and top of the Prairie table, as they gear up for a playoff weekend they will host on Oct. 25-27.
"The boys went for it and that's a good team," said Griffins head coach Adam Loga. "Credit to Marty (Fenger-Andersen) and the boys. They're nationally-ranked for a reason. A lot of depth, a lot of senior leaders there.
"That being said, we know we can go toe to toe with anyone. Kind of again, they were our errors. With a younger group that's trying to play out, trying to build and within our structure and game model, there are decisions that are made that sometimes aren't the best. They live and learn from it."
That's the theme for a team that gave a send-off to two graduating players following the match – Rakan Yassin and Stewart Jamieson – but could return everyone else in 2025.
Live and learn.
"Losing Ricky and Stew is big, but everyone's back," said Loga. "I think the biggest thing for us was building from last year's foundation in terms of our culture. Last year we laid the foundation and this year we built more.
"The brotherhood of the group has been outstanding. Now just adding a few pieces and continuing to build."
Loga also couldn't help but look back at missed opportunities earlier in the campaign as the Griffins were eliminated from the playoffs on the last day of the season for a third-straight year.
"You look back and you just miss out on the playoffs the last day again," he said. "Just off the top of your head, there was (Ali) Yildiz's crossbar against the U of S – there's a point. You think of the two posts Ricky had against Trinity Western, there's a point or three points. The list goes on. You're right there again. We can hope the guys learn from it and we continue to build that culture piece and grow together."
Ricky Yassin corrals a pass on Friday. He created some dangerous chances but couldn't add to his program record goal and points total in his final match at MacEwan (Norman Bo photo).
Yassin led the Griffin with three shots (two on goal) in his final game with MacEwan, breaking the program record for the most shots in a Canada West season (50). He holds 11 other program records, including being the Griffins' career Canada West points (21) and goals (14) leader, and is tied for seven others. He and Jamieson, a steady defender and leader for the Griffins, were celebrated after the match.
"Most importantly, they're outstanding humans," said Loga. "With Ricky being here so long, just bantering him about some of his immature mistakes and things that he's done in 2019 versus the man he is today, and some of the immature things I did in 2019 as an early coach. We banter about it today. He's left a legacy here, as has Stew. Stew's been such a great mentor to these guys. They may not appreciate it now. I think they do, but they may not. But they definitely will come their third, fourth and fifth seasons.
"Bless those two. We're just so lucky to have them."
