Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — As a fourth-year transfer, MacEwan Griffins forward Sydney Jack wasn't sure what her role may be, but after this weekend, she is making a name for herself as a shootout specialist.
Jack scored twice in the shootout, to help the Griffins with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Regina Cougars on Saturday night at the Downtown Community Arena.
Her two shootout snipes don't count anywhere on the stats sheet, but they meant a whole lot to the Griffins, as they improved to 1-2-0-1 to start the season and give the team confidence heading into their bye week.
"I'm not the most skilled player out there, so I just wanted to go in and use my speed and shoot and she gave me the top corner on the right the first time and the top corner on the left the second time, so I just put the puck there," said Jack, who also scored in the team's shootout loss on Friday night.
"It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster yesterday, because we thought we won and then it turned around and we didn't, but we pulled together as a team tonight, and it's super exciting that we got the two points.
"It's really special. I was nervous coming in as a transfer from Olds, and not really knowing my role on the team, and to help the team out and get this first win is super exciting."
The Griffins' first win was certainly a grind. Through the first two periods, they struggled to generate many scoring opportunities and found themselves down 2-0 after Jordyn Blais scored at the 11:05 mark of the first period and Paige Hubbard scored an early second period marker.
But MacEwan didn't quit.
W��| GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 13, 2024
Another game, another Tess Collier point shot that results in a goal.
This time, the goal is hers!@GriffinsWHKY are within one down the stretch of the third period, trailing @ReginaCougars 2-1.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/5mRoilhe1o
Defenceman Tess Collier scored 1:09 into the third period after her point shot found it's way through traffic to cut Regina's lead to 2-1.
Then, with 4:32 left and MacEwan on the power play, Allee Isley's snap shot from the top of the circle beat Cougars goaltender Lexi Peace over the glove to tie it at 2-2.
W��| GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 13, 2024
Allee Isley sends it to overtime!@GriffinsWHKY tied 2-2 with @ReginaCougars #GriffNation @CanadaWest pic.twitter.com/ilCqC638Eq
Brainna Sank made 16 saves in the victory against Regina for her first win of the season, while Peace made 14 saves in the loss for the Cougars.
In the shootout, Paige Hubbard scored on Sank to tie the shootout at 1-1, and the Cougars went right back to Hubbard to try and take the lead in the shootout, but Sank wasn't going to allow Hubbard to get one by her again.
"I knew they were going to go right back to her, and there was no way I was going to let her score again. I stuck with her the whole way, and made sure I made that save for the team," said Sank.
After giving the Griffins a 1-0 lead as the second shooter in the shootout, Jack got her second goal after Sank stopped Hubbard, and then Sank made one last save for good measure Raea Gilroy to preserve the victory.
"We weren't happy with the way we were playing after the first two periods. We knew that wasn't how we wanted to end off our weekend going into the bye," said Sank.
"Once we got that first goal, we knew we could do this. We got some confidence, went to work and got gritty."
W��| FINAL
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 13, 2024
Sydney Jack scores twice in the shootout as @GriffinsWHKY completes the comeback to beat @ReginaCougars 3-2!#GriffNation
BOXSCORE➡️https://t.co/r3wU351mvj pic.twitter.com/nNRYXNgu3D
While the Griffins were aiming for a weekend sweep, to get three out of a possible four points is solid, and will no doubt give MacEwan some early season confidence — especially how they were able to come back in the third period by two goals and win in the shootout.
"We weren't thrilled with the first two-thirds of our game, but in the third period, we played our style of hockey, and it shows when we do that, we put ourselves in a good position to be successful," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming.
"Our compete level and the way we want to execute wasn't there in the first 40 minutes, and we weren't happy with it at all, as a staff and as a team, and the girls acknowledged that.
"They had an opportunity to go out and change that in the third and they rallied behind that. It was fun to watch them compete like that. We were proud as a staff to see them step up… It was a really good character win for us."
MacEwan has next weekend off, before they travel to Winnipeg to take on the Manitoba Bisons on Oct. 25-26.
