Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – On the sidelines since the fall season ended in 2019, the MacEwan Griffins men's soccer team finally has a return-to-play date to circle on the calendar.

Sept. 25.

MacEwan will host cross-town rival Alberta in their season opener that afternoon at 2:30 p.m. (Clarke Stadium).

It's a later-than-normal opening weekend to a Canada West season that traditionally begins in August, but that's an inconsequential footnote in the wake of sports being sidelined entirely due to the pandemic.

"We are all so stoked to be back on the pitch and together again," said head coach Adam Loga, "and to kick-off over one year absent against our most familiar opponent – why not?"

The teams will finish the opening weekend home-and-home series on Alberta's pitch (Foote Field) on Sept. 26 (2 p.m.).

Check out the Griffins' regular season schedule here

Check out the full Canada West schedule here

MacEwan's regional-based regular season schedule format continues through the Prairie Division with home games against Saskatchewan Oct. 2-3 and Lethbridge Oct. 16-17 (all 2:30 p.m., Clarke Stadium), while they have road trips scheduled for Mount Royal Oct. 9-10 and Calgary Oct. 23-24.

The playoff format remains the same as previous seasons with the top-four teams in the Prairie and Pacific divisions crossing over to face each in the quarter-finals in a 1-4, 2-3 seeded-format on the Oct. 29-31 weekend.

The Final Four, hosted by the highest-remaining Prairie seed is set for Nov. 5-7, while the U SPORTS men's soccer championship is slate to take place Nov. 18-21 in Ottawa, hosted by Carleton University.