Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – The changing of the guard at MacEwan's long dominant centre-back position is underway.

Jamie Erickson, who has been a rock in the backfield for the past five seasons, graduated in the spring and steady veteran defender Samantha Gouveia has one year of eligibility remaining.

So, head coach Dean Cordeiro has been busy recruiting the next wave of talented defenders who will aim to continue the program's tradition of stingy play in their own end of the field.

Abbey Wright just learned the ropes in her first season, while Saskatchewan REX star Renee DeCorby is a Griffins rookie in 2020-21. Now, Cordeiro has added another promising defender in Sherwood Park's Jayda Mitchell, who will attend MacEwan in 2021.

"It's all about timing," he explained. "Obviously, Jamie Erickson just graduated and Samantha Gouveia's going into her last year, so we see a bit of the changing of the guard at the position. Abbey Wright is looking excellent and we like what we are seeing from first-year Renee DeCorby. We are so happy to be adding Jayda to the mix.

"I think those three will be a formidable group that will help elevate our position for many years to come."

Mitchell comes to the Griffins from the Sherwood Park Phoenix, a top club in the 2003 age group. Like previously announced Phoenix teammate, goalkeeper Toni Gill, she was a member of the Alberta REX program, which brings together the best of the best to train.

"We just love her style of play," said Cordeiro. "We're very much a possession-based program. We look to play between our units of players. Jayda's very good at building the play out of the back.

"She's a great 1v1 defender," he continued. "Her instincts and timing in winning aerial battles, as well as intercepting balls and sticking tackles is second to none in her age group. We're really excited about her potential growth and her role within our program."