Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – The floodgates eventually had to give.
With 33 shot attempts – 15 of them on target – this time the MacEwan Griffins' offensive deluge wouldn't be denied as they romped to a 4-0 win over the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack in Canada West women's soccer action on Friday night.
The victory comes five days after settling for a scoreless draw vs. Lethbridge at home despite outshooting their opponent 25-5 and 9-0 on goal.
"Building off the Lethbridge game, I thought we had a fantastic performance today," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "We just elevated to another level.
"We knew we had too much talent for (the scoring) not to come," he continued. "We just had to get that first one and felt like more would come."
Suekiana Choucair led the Griffins with two goals and an assist – a virtuoso performance from the star fifth-year midfielder, who tied a school record for most points in a Canada West match.
Choucair set up the game's opening goal in the 45th minute when her FK from the right deflected to the boot of Raeghan McCarthy, who lobbed it over the defensive line from 27 yards out and it bounced over keeper Danielle Robertson.
In the 59th minute, Choucair broke free of her check to intercept a ball at midfield and ran untouched to the top of the box, ripping one top right corner past the outstretched hands of Robertson.
Choucair then converted on a penalty kick in the 65th minute, slotting it bottom right, after McCarthy was taken down in the box.
MacEwan put a capper on a dominant day when Sofia DiGiacomo's impressive free kick on goal from midfield was bobbled by Robertson and Maya Morrell put the rebound in off a defender.
Emily Burns made four saves to earn her third-straight clean sheet of the season as the Griffins improved to 2-0-1. TRU falls to 0-2-1.
"Credit TRU, they're very well organized and coached," noted Cordeiro. "They did a good job. The first half was a chess match. TRU made some adjustments and made it difficult for us, but we kept putting them in situations where opportunities were presenting themselves."
That led to 33 shot attempts – the most by any team in a match this Canada West season. Rookie Sunder West had nine of those, while Choucair had six, including a team-high four shots on goal. The graduating senior was in fine form.
"We needed people to step up," said Cordeiro. "It's not surprising that it's a fifth-year player like Suekiana. She's had an illustrious career. She really lifted us and gave us that push we needed. What a stat line. Two goals and an assist is not a bad day at the office. She almost scored a hat trick late in the game."
"We're going to enjoy this moment, but bottom line is we've got to start the preparation for a well-organized UBCO team tomorrow."
UBCO (0-3-0) lost 2-0 to Alberta on Friday night and will host MacEwan on Saturday (6:30 p.m. MT, Canada West TV presented by Co-op). TRU hosts Alberta (2-0-1) at the same time.
