Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – The Griffins' dreams of finishing atop the Prairie Division table were dashed on a blustery day in Lethbridge as they settled for a 1-1 draw with the Pronghorns on Saturday.
With Calgary beating Alberta 5-1 at the same time to improve to 11-1-1, it put MacEwan (9-1-3) four points behind the Dinos, knocking the sizzle out of Sunday's regular season finale in Cowtown between the Prairie leaders (12 p.m., Canada West TV).
What was supposed to be a must-see TV showdown for first place has been rendered a mere warm-up for far more important Canada West quarter-final matchups the two teams will host next weekend.
"I'm disappointed, I'm not going to lie," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "Especially with a dream start, scoring in the second minute, it looked like we were well on our way.
"Just our execution was a bit off and that will be our reflection. We created a lot. I think we had 24 shots, but we were just off the mark."
Indeed, the Griffins couldn't have started better on Saturday as Amelia Russo headed home Grace Schimpf's corner kick to put MacEwan up 1-0 just 1:17 into the game.
W⚽️| GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins (@MacEwanGriffins) October 19, 2024
Amelia Russo opens the scoring for @Griffins_WSOC in the second minute in #YQL vs. @UofLPronghorns, heading home a Grace Schimpf corner kick!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/WAdTGK3xYC
But the second goal wouldn't come, even with a slight wind advantage the Griffins had in the first half, albeit a diagonal one, pushing the ball predominantly towards the team benches amid 50-70 km/h gusts all day.
"We had a lot of good looks, but shots were wide or high," said Cordeiro. "Credit their keeper in tight, she made some big saves, but I think we had countless opportunities to get that second goal and get some breathing room."
That left the Griffins in danger of one play against creating a draw, which is exactly what happened with Pronghorns' scoring leader Hailey Slobodian scored off a counter-attack in the 62nd minute to level the score for good.
"Just one of those games we were a little bit off the mark," said Cordeiro. "But sometimes you need those wakeup calls to get yourself ready as the games start to mean a bit more now.
"We left it on the field. It wasn't due to lack of effort. That's football sometimes. We'll rebound, we'll respond tomorrow."
Anneke Odinga was named MVP for the Griffins.
"Annie, as always, drives play for us," said Cordeiro. "She gets up and down with relative ease. She puts herself in advanced positions that really helps the team. Today it was a struggle, and she was still able to be super effective running up and down that line.
"And always, she was a rock defensively. She stepped in a couple times and stuck some tackles, doing what she needed to do. Just a complete game from her, so that's why we went with Anneke today."
Anneke Odinga was named Game MVP for the Griffins (Cam Yoos photo).
Oceane McBurney made eight saves for Lethbridge, while Elizabeth Knight stopped two for MacEwan as the Griffins outshot the Pronghorns 24-7 (10-3 on goal).
With the result, the Griffins are locked into the Prairie Division's No. 2 seed, which means they will host the third seed from the Pacific Division in a Canada West quarter-final match on Oct. 25 (6 p.m., Edmonton Scottish).
That spot isn't settled yet as any of Trinity Western (8-3-2), Victoria (6-2-5) or UBC Okanagan (6-5-2) could finish there based on the result of their final games all on Sunday.
Victoria holds the head-to-head tiebreaker on Trinity Western, so if they beat Thompson Rivers on Sunday and TWU falls to undefeated UBC, they would pass the Spartans for second.
UBCO has long odds to pass the Vikes for third, but they would get ahead of them only if the Vikes lose and they beat Mount Royal, while going +3 on Victoria in goals for/against differential on the day.
For the Griffins, they're focused on getting something out of Sunday's regular season finale at Calgary as they look to build momentum for playoffs.
"Every game's important, so I think it will be important for the girls to show the staff where they're at leading into the playoff fixture a week from now," said Cordeiro. "Whenever you play, you play the game to get three points, so I don't think that will change tomorrow, but it may be a rest day for a couple while we manage any bumps or bruises. And we'll definitely have to be careful with girls on yellow cards. We wouldn't seomone getting a yellow tomorrow that would leave them out for playoffs.
"It will be an opportunity for others to step up."
