Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – A night after being outshot 51-15 and winning, the MacEwan Griffins women's hockey team outshot the Regina Cougars 42-22 and … lost.
A bit of a hockey oddity created by great goaltending produced a weekend split between the two Canada West East Division rivals as Regina, which lost 4-1 to MacEwan on Friday, won 1-0 on Saturday.
It was the final regular season game for both teams with the Griffins finishing 6-19-3 and the Cougars wrapping up an 11-12-5 record before they get ready to travel to Calgary next weekend for an opening round best-of-three playoff series against the Mount Royal Cougars.
The Griffins will head into an off-season wishing the season was a little longer. They played their best hockey down the stretch, winning four of their last seven games.
And if not for Regina's Arden Kliewer, they would have made it 5/7, but the Regina goaltender was full marks for a 42-save shutout in her final Canada West regular season contest.
"Big picture is they really just wanted to play for each other," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming of his team's top shot output of the season. "We saw some really great things from our whole group today. It's just unfortunate we weren't able to get one past their goalie tonight. We scored three goals on three shots yesterday and none on 42 today. I guess that's just how it goes sometimes."
Kliewer, who came on in relief of Natalie Williamson a day earlier, finished the weekend with 53 saves on 53 shots.
On Saturday, she had to work for the shutout as MacEwan put forth its best offensive effort of the season.
Joie Simon broke the program record for the most shots in a Canada West game by a Griffins player when she peppered Kliewer with nine. And Claire Hobbs tied the old record with seven, including a point-blank hot shot from the hash marks with just seconds left that would have tied the game, if not for Kliewer's quick reaction with her shoulder.
Despite the loss, it was a big performance high note for the Griffins to finish on.
"I'm proud of this group," said Leeming. "They've gone through a lot of adversity and have had some high highs and some low lows. That's sports. They're a family in there and it's pretty cool to be a part of that."
Playing in her final game with the @MacEwanGriffins, Brianna Sank was sharp in the first period, making 11 saves, including this one, as the Griffins are locked in a scoreless draw with @ReginaCougars through 20 minutes.#GriffNation #SeniorNight pic.twitter.com/QNrEvO4MFE
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) February 16, 2025
Brianna Sank stopped 21 of 22 shots in her final game as a Griffin, capping her career with a program record 2,058 saves in 4,622:38 minutes. Her career GAA is 2.62 and career save percentage .911 as she cemented her status as one of the best goaltenders ever to come through the program.
Sank and Jennifer Andrash, who had three shots in her last game and finished the season with 12 points – the second-most by a Griffin in a Canada West campaign – were celebrated prior to the game along with former goaltender and fellow graduating senior Brooke Fawcett.
"(Brianna and Jenny) have elevated this whole year and put us in positions to be successful," said Leeming. "We've talked about what Sank's done for this program with all of her records and just her contributions over the length of time she's been able to play. Jenny same thing. She's grown a lot in the opportunity I've had to work with her as well. She's someone who brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm day in and day out, and really hit her stride as an offensive player in this stretch for us."
Another great stop by Brianna Sank as she gets over to shut down a rebound attempt from Kaylee Dyer. #GriffNation #SeniorNight pic.twitter.com/iXdGG61R6y
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) February 16, 2025
The Griffins will head into the off-season with plenty of building blocks for 2025-26 and maybe even some momentum. They can only wish this solid stretch they've been on started earlier in the season.
"It would be great if we had been able to hit stride a little earlier and it just didn't happen for us," said Leeming. "We're always looking at short, medium and long-term goals with this program. Trying to be in the moment and get what we can – have those people in that room maximize their potential as teammates and as student-athletes, so they get the best experience that they can. But it's also building for the future.
"We talked a lot about that today, about leaving the light on for the next person that's going to follow you. And making sure we leave things in a better place than they were, so we're always building."
Griffins players gather around goaltender Brianna Sank to congratulate her after she played her final game as a Griffin (Derek Harback photo).
