Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – There's no question the Griffins women's soccer team relied on stars Suekiana Choucair and Emily Burns immensely last season.

Choucair fired 51 shots during the 2016 campaign, shattering the previous school record by 25. Her eight goals – five of them game-winners – both established the high-water mark in the Griffins' Canada West history.

Burns, meanwhile, became by far the busiest goalkeeper in MacEwan's Canada West play with 85 saves in a yeoman's 1,162:21 minutes of work in 2016. She led the conference in save percentage with a blistering .904 mark. 

Both players will be essential again as the Griffins put their undefeated 2-0-0 record on the line against cross-town rival Alberta (1-0-1) on Friday night (7:30 p.m., Clareview Community Rec Centre – 3804 139 Ave NW).

Before the weekend is out, they will also host Mount Royal University (1-0-1) on Sunday (Noon, Jasper Place Bowl, 9200 163 St NW).

But this season, it's clear the supporting cast around them has gotten stronger, especially on offence. The Griffins have already scored 10 goals in the first two games, just seven less than they had in all of the 2016 season. This past week, they landed on the list of honourable mentions in the U Sports top 10 rankings.

Whereas she was almost half the offence for the Griffins in 2016, Choucair has just one of the team's 10 tallies in 2017.

"She needed to step up because we didn't have as many contributions as we've had to start this season so far," noted Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "Everybody understands they're a piece to the puzzle and our end goal is to make it one step farther than we did last year.

"We want to get better every week. Signs of good teams are one who can find contributions from many different people. It's early but we've had a lot of different contributions."

Choucair's contributions have almost been lost in the shuffle, even though she has a goal and two assists through two matches putting her in a tie for third in Canada West scoring. She is one of four Griffins with three points or more already, joining Meagan Lemoine (5), Brittany Costa (3), and Raeghan McCarthy (3).

"I see a lot more runs," said the third-year midfielder from Edmonton. "We have a lot of forwards with a nose for the net. With some of the additions to the midfield there's more offensive power in there, too. Everyone's very tenacious and wants to get the ball and score."

That's allowed Choucair to morph her game into more of a playmaker.

"What Suek's been able to do is create a little bit more now," said Cordeiro. "She doesn't get credit for those second assists, but she's had a couple more of those.

"Where we relied on her to get shots and beat people in the final third (last season), now she's more of a creator. People are giving her a lot of attention because of the season she had and that's opening up other players."

Burns, meanwhile, has only faced three shots through two games and one of them, against Thompson Rivers last Sunday, went in.

"We were gutted for her," said Cordeiro on the only shot on net Burns faced in 69:37 of action before giving way to backup keeper Tianna Groeneveld. "She had no chance on kind of a broken free kick goal that found its way in and that was her only blemish on the weekend.

"It's a good sign of a solid team in front of a solid keeper if she doesn't have to do a whole lot. At the same time, it's almost harder on her because you're not in the rhythm of the game, not having to deal with shots."

Burns, who faced an average of 7.83 shots on net per game last season, would prefer to be busier.

"I'd rather play a game where I have to make 10 big saves versus one OK save because at that point it's just about mental (fortitude)," the third-year Sherwood Park product said. "I have to stay engaged and focused for 90 minutes without having to do a lot.

"Obviously, the goal on the weekend, that was proof of that where I had a mental lapse. I would like to have that goal back, but it's tough when you have zero shots in the game and then there's one in the 39th minute."

Most certainly, nationally-ranked Alberta and MRU will provide a greater test for Burns, even if both of those opponents have been known more for the defence so far this season. Alberta has back-to-back clean sheets behind keeper Cassie Bazzarelli, who made a combined 10 saves in a scoreless draw with Lethbridge and a 1-0 win over Calgary.

"There's a lot of emotions involved in this game every year," said Burns of the cross-town rivalry which was last won by the Griffins, 3-0 in the final regular season game of the 2016 season. "Their style of soccer, they kind of like to play direct and have fast forwards, so that's a bit different than some teams. We just have to be ready for that, but our back line has been good with that."

MRU, prior to Friday, had only allowed one goal on the campaign – in a 2-1 win over Lethbridge. They also played to a scoreless draw with the Dinos. Sunday's game against the Cougars will be a rematch of the opening round of the 2016 playoffs – a game won 1-0 by MacEwan.

"Every game is just so important," said Cordeiro. "We look at the table and it's so close. So many draws that you've got to just take it one game at a time.

"I think for everybody there will be a lot at stake in every game this season."