Austin Connelly, For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Amanda Murray's recent torrid scoring pace is helping lift the Griffins women's hockey team to new heights in the second semester.
Amid the team's 6-0 record since the calendar flipped to 2020, Murray has four goals – two them game-winners – and five points. She now has three game-winning goals on the season.
"I don't think she's done anything differently," said head coach Lindsay McAlpine on Murray's goal-scoring run. "That's probably the strength of what Amanda brings to our group is that her emotional investment is the same regardless of who we're playing, and regardless of when we're playing at whatever point in the season.
"She looks the same in a mid-November game on a Thursday night in Olds as she does game three of the semifinal."
Jumping onto a line with Jesse Rampton and Mackenzie Dachuk, who've been complementing her game with their intense forechecking, Murray has been a valuable source of secondary scoring for the Griffins.
"She's a high energy player," said McAlpine. "You come in and watch the Griffs for the first time and I can almost guarantee you she's one of the first players that you notice.
"She's relentless on the puck forechecking, she's a great defensive centre, she plays the body well, she has a rocket of a shot and when she connects with it and when it's on net, it has a high chance of going in."
On Jan. 10, Murray had the game-winning goal in the third period in a 5-3 victory over Red Deer. More recently, she broke a late-game tie against SAIT last Friday, stealing the puck off a breakout attempt and quickly snapping home the eventual winner with just 6:30 left in a 2-1 triumph.
With a second-half surge, Murray now sits tied for fifth in team scoring with 11 points after netting just one goal in the first 14 games. She credits hard work off the ice over the semester break for her recent success.
"I worked out probably every day," said Murray over the extended five-week break over Christmas. "I just didn't want to fall out of it, I want to stay on top of it."
Murray will look to continue her scoring ways once again for the Griffins (17-3-0-0), when they battle Olds College (4-13-3-0) on the road Thursday (7 p.m., Olds Arena, ACAC TV) and at home Saturday (6 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, ACAC TV).
The third-year forward and Edmonton native has now passed her career-high in points of 10, while she's also inching closer to her career-high of nine goals, which she set in her rookie year.
"I'm winning my faceoffs a lot and I'm feeling better overall," said Murray on the confidence she's gained since switching to playing down the middle of the ice.
Making a conscious effort in her shot placement and implementing more aggressive tendencies in the offensive zone, have helped Murray rekindle her scoring touch.
"Both those goals I scored on this weekend they were both walks off the wall," explained Murray. "Which is something Lindsay had pointed out in the last recent couple of games, that I should start doing those more.
"Also, where I'm shooting – typically I think I shoot too high and both of those goals were on the ice," she added of her goals against SAIT over the weekend. "It's kind of made me realize what's working."
