Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – A tough start with four goals against in the opening 15:23 was too much to overcome for the Griffins in a 6-1 loss to the rival Alberta Pandas on Saturday afternoon at Clare Drake Arena.
Abby Soyko and Izzy Lajoie put the Pandas ahead with goals just 1:33 apart eight minutes into the game before Jadynn Morden scored twice in a span of just over two minutes to chase MacEwan starter Brianna Sank from the game.
Even though the Griffins had scored in between to escape the first period down 4-1, the deficit was too much to overcome.
"They got four goals on nine shots in the first 15 minutes," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming. "We needed to push back from the drop of the puck, and we didn't find a way to do that tonight."
With the result, the Pandas improve to 14-3-1, dropping the Griffins to 2-13-3 in the Canada West women's hockey standings.
On the positive front, the Griffins did manage to score, something they weren't able to do in Friday's 4-0 loss at home to the Pandas. With Kori Paterson parked in front, Ali Macaulay's powerplay point shot beat goaltender Mackenzie Dojahn through traffic midway through the first.
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— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) January 4, 2025
With Kori Paterson providing the screen in front, Ali Macaulay sends a powerplay point shot through traffic and in for the first goal of the game for the @MacEwanGriffins!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/JfeJVSML6K
"We talk about special teams a lot and we're trying to find a way to get shots through," said Leeming. "Kori was doing what she does at the net front there, being a good screen and Ali found a way to get it through to the net there. We wanted to test their goalie a little bit more and we got more shots than we did yesterday, but we still came up short in that aspect.
"We gave up a goal right after on the next shift, so all the momentum we gained there fell to the wayside."
With Lindsey Johnson coming on in relief of Sank for the final 44:37, she stopped 15 of 17 shots the rest of the way with tallies by Payton Laumbach and Soyko again beating her before the night was through.
The Griffins head into a bye weekend before returning to action against Mount Royal Jan. 16 (7 p.m., Downtown Community Arena, Canada West TV).
"When we play teams like that, who really set the tone for our league, we proved we can play with them at times and dictate the pace of play in moments, but it's finding a way to be consistent with that to really push us forward," said Leeming.
"Doing the hard things that the game consists of consistently in a higher level is where we're going to start to see things turn for us."
