Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — Generating consistency can be tough sometimes, and right now, the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team is trying to find it.
After falling behind 3-0 in the first period, the Griffins clawed their way back to within one goal against the Mount Royal Cougars, but fell 6-2 on Saturday at the Downtown Community Arena.
Athena Hauck, Mackenzie Loupelle, Laura Cook, Mackenzie Butz, Courtney Kollman and Sydney Benko all scored for the Cougars, while Makenna Schuttler and Claire Hobbs replied for the Griffins in the loss.
It marked the second-straight game, the Griffins have given up multiple goals in a period against Mount Royal.
"Today we got behind three goals, and Friday we gave up four goals in the second period. We've had one bad period each day, and that's really shot us in the foot," said Griffins interim head coach Chris Leeming.
"When you fall behind like we did the last couple of days, it can create a spread that is really tough to come back from, especially against a team like Mount Royal."
Hauck would give the Cougars a 1-0 lead on their first shot of the game, just 28 seconds into the contest. She broke down the left wing and let a shot go that seemed to handcuff Griffins goaltender Brianna Sank.
Loupelle and Cook would extend the Cougars lead scoring just 1:07 apart.
"We need to find a way to get our consistency back for a full 60 minutes in our last two games against Calgary, next week," said Leeming.
Despite the three-goal deficit, the Griffins didn't give up in any way. They responded with a strong third period, scoring twice in the frame to cut the Cougars lead to 3-2.
W��| GOAL!��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
Makenna Schuttler tips home Rebecca Thiessen's point shot to get @MacEwanHockey on the board early in the second period. They trail 3-1 to @mruwhockey.@CanadaWest #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/G1QDM6c9rz
Schuttler would tip home a Rebecca Thiessen point shot for her third goal of the campaign to make it 3-1 at the 5:57 mark, and then with the Griffins on a late power play, Hobbs would walk into the left hash marks and left a hard wrist shot that beat Cougars goaltender Scout Anderson through the five-hole.
"We got into a lull that really put us in a hole, and we did a good job of battling back and we showed a lot of resilience coming back, but we just had too many lulls in our game this weekend, and we had a tough third period, today," said Leeming.
W��| GOAL!��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) February 5, 2023
Claire Hobbs rips a shot from the right side on the power play as @MacEwanHockey closes out the second period on the rally trail, now down just 3-2 to @mruwhockey. Shots are 21-15 for the visitors.@CanadaWest #GriffNation pic.twitter.com/bnWWwFVyDS
The Griffins looked to carry all their momentum from a strong second period into the third. They had a chance on the power play when Breanne Trotter was penalized for body checking. Despite having some quality looks on Anderson, they would be denied.
The Cougars would step on the gas pedal in the second half of the third, pouring it on, scoring two goals just 27 seconds apart.
Butz ripped a point shot that went off the post and in to give Mount Royal a 4-2 lead, and then Kollman made a nice individual effort to win the draw to herself and break towards the net and beat Sank with a nice backhand over the right pad to make it 5-2.
Benko would score with just 26 seconds left to round out the scoring in a period where they outshot MacEwan 21-8.
"We continued to compete in the third period, but we just couldn't capitalize to get that equalizer," said Hobbs.
"They brought the pressure, especially in the second half of the third. We had our chances, we pushed them hard, but they pushed back and made some real good plays to capitalize on their chances."
The Griffins will wrap up their regular season next week with a home-and-home series against the Calgary Dinos Feb. 10-11. Saturday is Senior Night (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
