Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins started off the new year on the wrong foot.
The Calgary Dinos scored two late first period goals and that was all they needed in a 4-0 win over the Griffins, Friday night at the Downtown Community Arena.
Jada Burke and Erin Armstrong scored their first goals of the season just 2:09 apart in the first period and Alli Borrow and Rebecca Clarke scored 2:01 apart in the third period to round out the scoring for the Dinos.
Gabriela Durante made 26 saves for her fourth shutout of the season, while Brooke Fawcett made 23 saves in her regular season debut for the Griffins.
The loss drops MacEwan to 3-13-1, while the Dinos improve to 8-8-2-3 this season.
"We had a little bit of a lull there and got out competed and they scored two goals on us," said Griffins interim head coach Chris Leeming.
"It's something we've dealt with all year, and it comes down to playing with a sense of urgency and playing that way for a whole 60 minutes."
The Griffins had some decent scoring chances in the opening period, but they lacked finish. They had a chance wide open in the slot, but missed the net midway through the period and weren't able to convert on a rebound moments later.
The Dinos made it 1-0 with 2:40 left in the period as Burke was able to jam the loose puck in front of the net after Fawcett had it covered.
Then with 31 seconds left, Armstrong's point shot on a two-man advantage found its way through traffic to extend the Dinos lead.
That was a tough way to end the first 20 minutes in which the Griffins battled toe-to-toe with the Dinos.
"Their speed and transition is really good, and we didn't do a good enough job gapping up," said Griffins defenceman Aryn Chambers.
"We did a lot of good things tonight, but we're a real young team and this is a big learning curve for us, and we have to keep working to clean things up."
The Griffins outshot the Dinos in the second and third periods, including firing 11 shots in the final frame, but they couldn't solve Durante.
The Dinos scored just moments after the Griffins lone powerplay of the game 4:50 into the third period, and that simply put the game out of reach.
While they peppered Durante with 26 shots, many weren't in high danger areas, and they weren't able to generate much traffic in front of her.
"They (Dinos) don't give up anything for free or easy. That's their expectation each and every night. They're going to push the pace and that's exactly what they did," said Leeming.
"We had over 25 shots tonight and for the most part their goalie saw almost all of them. I can only think of one she was screened on. We need to create more traffic and have more of a net front presence."
After serving as MacEwan's third goaltender since last season, Brooke Fawcett made her Griffins debut on Friday, making 23 saves (Joel Kingston photo).
SOLID DEBUT: Despite allowing four goals in her Griffins regular season debut, Brooke Fawcett was steady in her first game with MacEwan.
After playing all of last season as the third string goaltender, the second-year goaltender is set to share the net with starting goaltender Brianna Sank in the second half of the season.
"The girls were so excited for me, and I felt the love from them, but I was pretty excited and nervous," said Fawcett.
"It was really exciting getting in there against a team that we're chasing for the playoffs. I was glad our coaches had the confidence to put me in.
"Last year, I knew I had to work hard every day, and this year I came in with more confidence, but I knew I had to continue to work hard and I'd get my shot eventually."
