Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Grit, depth and tenacity were on full display for the MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team in a 2-0 Canada West quarter-final win over the visiting University of Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascades on Saturday at Clarke Stadium.
Grit … Abbey Wright scoring the game-winner in the 37th minute on a header, going to the bench for repairs on a bleeding mouth and returning in the second half to deny the Cascades on defence.
Depth … Losing Canada West first team all-star Meagan Lemoine to an injury early in the first half and not missing a beat with Maya Morrell coming in.
Tenacity … Raeghan McCarthy, Erin Van Dolder and Grace Mwasalla (and others) flying all over the pitch to deny time and space to UFV all afternoon.
It all added up to a huge victory that sent the MacEwan Griffins back to the Canada West Final Four for the fifth time in seven seasons.
"It's exciting," said head coach Dean Cordeiro. "Every day we're trying to get a little bit better. Every year we're getting a bit stronger and deeper and I think we've learned some lessons from those previous experiences. I think it makes us stronger.
"Full credit to Fraser Valley. They played a terrific game today. It's playoffs, anything can happen, so you have to be dialed in from the onset. I feel like we came out with a very good start to the game today, which was key."
The key also for the Griffins was scoring first, which they were able to do on Wright's header off Van Dolder's corner kick in the 37th. An injury on the play only kept her out until the second half when she returned to her role denying UFV anything on defence – a moment that personified the team's battle level.
"She came out with a bloody mouth after she scored that goal," said Cordeiro. "Both centre-backs went down – (Samantha Gouveia stayed in the game) – and it was a cause for concern.
"Abbey just lays it on the line. We knew with that service from Erin Van Dolder it was going to put us in a spot to capitalize. We needed that. We fed off the energy from the fans after that – our 12th man. It was good to get that first goal."
Abbey Wright (#16) heads home the winning goal off an Erin Van Dolder corner kick in the 37th minute (Tia Schram photo).
When McCarthy received a pass in the 67th minute from Van Dolder in her office at the top of the box, it was curtains for the visitors. The graduating senior scored her program-leading fourth career Canada West playoff goal with a scintillating left-footed strike inside the right post.
"That was a great pass by Erin," said McCarthy. "We had a great buildup. As soon as I hit it, I thought 'I think that's going in.' That was exciting to get the insurance marker."
Added Cordeiro: "Big game Rae – how many times do we keep talking about it? That's left foot, top corner that ices things for us. Raeghan was all over the pitch and that's why we selected her for our player of the game. Minute 1 to Minute 90, nothing changes. She's tenacious, she breaks up every play, she's a quality finisher and comes up clutch again for us."
Van Dolder finished the game with two assists and was also huge in the tenacity department.
"Erin's a rock for us in the mid," said McCarthy. "She's always winning balls in the air, sticking tackles. Everything she does is awesome. We're lucky to have her in the mid."
UFV pressured for much of the second half in an attempt to get on the scoresheet, but they were largely turned away at the top of the box. Their best chance came off Taylor Nekic's boot in the 60th minute when she put it over the bar on a nice run up the right side.
Griffins goalkeeper Breanna Truscott ended up with three saves for the clean sheet.
So, it's on to another Canada West semifinal for the Griffins, who have been denied at that level four times previously, most recently in 2019 when they lost a heartbreaker on penalty kicks to eventual conference champion Calgary. They will meet UBC in a semifinal match next weekend in B.C. (either at Trinity Western or UBC).
"It's been frustrating the last few years," said McCarthy. "We've been so close so many times. I think this year we have all the power we need to win Final Four and go to nationals. We're all really excited."
