Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins thought they secured two points and the victory against the Regina Cougars on Friday — until they didn't.
Tied 1-1, and leading 1-0 in the shootout on a goal from Sydney Jack, goaltender Lindsey Johnson made a save on a nice backhand attempt by Paige Hubbard, and the Griffins stormed the ice to celebrate, but the referees stopped the celebration to inform the Griffins that the shootout will continue because Johnson left her crease before Hubbard touched the puck.
The shootout continued, Hubbard made good on her second chance and Pippy Pritchard scored the shootout winner in the sixth round to give the Cougars a 2-1 win at the Downtown Community Arena.
"It was a unique situation. I have to say in all of the mental training sessions I've done as a goaltender we've never talked about when you think you win the game, and then it gets called back," said Johnson, who made 21 saves in the loss.
"It's really frustrating, but I am trying to focus on the positives, and the fact that we took them to a shootout and had a much better effort than last weekend, but it's tough to not get the two points."
Ashton Bender scored her first-career Canada goal at the 9:50 mark of the opening frame to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead, but just over four minutes later, Lauren Focht scored the equalizer when the Cougars jumped on a neutral zone turnover and sprung Foct on a breakaway. She beat Johnson over the glove to tie it at 1-1.
"It was good to get a lead, but the goal they scored, we talk about the attention to details, and we can't give up those opportunities. Johnny (Johnson) had to make two other big stops on breakaways," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming.
"There were definitely times where we dictated the play quite well, but we got to find a way to get more and generate more shots. We didn't get enough traffic, and we didn't test their goaltender enough."
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— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 12, 2024
Moosomin, SK product Ashton Bender gets the first of the season for @GriffinsWHKY to open the scoring vs @ReginaCougars!
After 20 minutes, it's 1-1 at the DCA.
Catch the action on @CanadaWest TV or join us!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/xG0XzEoLyt
MacEwan came out in the second period and started to push for the go-ahead goal. They were able to sustain some strong pressure that led to some quality scoring opportunities. Claire Hobbs just missed on a nice tip in the slot and Jack rang a hard wrist shot off the post, but the Griffins couldn't score.
Johnson faced just one shot through the first 15 minutes of the second period, but she had to come up big on Regina's second shot of the period.
The third-year goaltender stretched full out and made a left pad save on a breakaway opportunity on Focht.
Lindsey Johnson stretches out to rob Regina's Lauren Focht on a second period breakaway (Jefferson Hagen photo).
While the Griffins limited the Cougars to just 22 shots on Friday, they struggled to get the puck on Cougars goaltender Arden Kliewer, who made 13 saves in the win.
Leeming wants his team to have a shooting mindset and crash the net more.
"The majority of goals are scored within the house (crease), and the players that are willing to go there are going to get rewarded, and we have to do more of that tomorrow" said Leeming.
The Griffins fall to 0-2-1 this season, and will now look to regroup when they face Regina on Saturday.
One thing they won't do is dwell on the disheartening loss.
"It was definitely a roller coaster of emotions, but we know that was something that was out of our control. We had to dial it back in, and unfortunately it didn't go our way," said Hobbs.
"Coach Izzy (Cropper) said it best. In this league, you're lucky you get to play them the next day, and it makes us hungry to play them tomorrow, because we're not happy with this result. We want that W in the next one."
MacEwan and Regina will wrap up their weekend series at the Downtown Community Arena on Saturday (5 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
