Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – A successful first-half PK was the difference as Trinity Western topped MacEwan 2-1 in a Canada West women's soccer quarter-final match on Friday night, ending a promising Griffins season short of the Final Four for a third-straight year.
Mansha Sidhu scored the winning goal a penalty in the 42nd minute, following a controversial call that was disputed by the Griffins to no avail.
"It all happened so fast," said MacEwan head coach Dean Cordeiro. "Obviously, we have it real time (video review) and it's a tough break. It's heartbreaking. But that's the game. It happens so quick.
"We have to respond from that, and we did. We fought to the end."
With the result, the Spartans punched their ticket to the Canada West Final Four in Calgary next weekend, making the conference championship weekend for a remarkable 23rd time in the past 24 seasons.
"Good people doing good things and trying really hard to always create a culture where players buy in and believe," said Spartans head coach Graham Roxburgh of the remarkable streak, as the program has only missed the Final Four once in 2003 since joining Canada West in 2001.
Friday's match at Edmonton Scottish could have gone either way – an affair that was as intense and hard-fought as you'd expect from two rivals who hadn't played an official game against each other since the Griffins beat the Spartans in the 2021 U SPORTS Championship final.
The contest featured seven yellow cards and was dead even with Prairie Division second-seeded MacEwan slightly outshooting Trinity Western (Pacific No. 3) 15-14 (7-7 on goal).
The Spartans came out on the front foot and opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Claire Bastura's cross was punched away by Griffins goalkeeper Sabrina Alexander but landed at the boot of Erin Stewart who buried it.
MacEwan equalized in the 39th when Ella Fownes sent in a long-range free kick that bounced off a Trinity Western defender's head and past goalkeeper Yasmine Pahal.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Soccer (@Griffins_WSOC) October 26, 2024
Ella Fownes' long distance free kick, bounces off a Spartans' head and in to draw the @MacEwanGriffins level 1-1 in the first half!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/BbNGlgEPDt
But less than three minutes later, the Spartans scored on the PK to regain the lead for good.
"It's our second loss of the season," said Cordeiro. "It's a tough pill to swallow, but this team's never going to quit or give up. We ran out of a little bit of time. We came ever so close to finding the equalizer late."
The Griffins and Spartans traded big chances the rest of the game with Trinity Western's Veronica Walter hitting the post in the 53rd minute before defender Tilly James headed Brynn Hobal's 56th-minute blast bound for the top corner off the line.
TWU's Sidhu then hit iron again in the 78th.
"Really tough battle," said Roxburgh. "Without being disrespectful, I thought if we buried two or three of our chances, maybe it's a little bit more comfortable. But credit to them. They hung in there. We always knew MacEwan has aggressive athleticism. They go direct.
"I'm just really proud of us," he added. "After we gave away a needless goal, to come right back and generate a chance – Kylie Hendricks tonight was superb."
Trinity Western's Veronica Walter gets a point-blank chance on Sabrina Alexander. Alexander was awesome in goal for the Griffins (James Maclennan photo).
MacEwan's last golden chance came in extra time as Anneke Odinga sent a low cross that painted a line five feet out and ran the whole crease, but no Griffin could get a boot on it.
Both Alexander and Pahal finished with five saves each.
"I think we'd all agree our season ended a little bit early, but Trinity would have said the same thing if it went the other way," said Cordeiro. "Our conference is so tough.
"It was a great game today and unfortunately we didn't get a break, we didn't get a call and we didn't get that one extra goal that we needed.
"I'm proud of this team," he added. "Heads will be held high. We'll be able to reflect on an amazing 10-1-3 season – a program best. There's lots of positives. It's too bad that today we came up a little bit short."
