Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Best on best sharpens like nothing else.
So, while the U SPORTS defending champion MacEwan Griffins fell 2-1 to current U SPORTS No. 1 UBC on Saturday night, they will take away the growth they showed as a team that will only serve to help them when the games get even more meaningful.
"Massive growth from where we were two weekends ago until now," said MacEwan head coach Dean Cordeiro. "I think the team now sees where they need to be.
"That's what I told the team today, there were no trophies being lifted, we have to go out and play. At half-time I said we gave them way too much respect for 30 minutes. They're a good team. For me, they haven't been tested much. We needed to come up and have a plan. At half-time, we made some adjustments and just played our game. We got into a rhythm. We out possessed them, out chanced them. We created high-quality scoring opportunities.
"They bent but didn't break. They finished strong as well, so credit them – very good side, well coached, well organized and a reason why they're one of the top teams in the country."
Cordeiro certainly has reason to believe his team didn't get a deserved result in the end. They actually slightly outshot the Thunderbirds 13-12, but it was their start that ended up costing them.
"I think our flaw today was we came a little bit slow out of the gate and gifted them a goal," said Cordeiro. "It was a communication error. After they scored, we woke up. For the remaining 65 minutes, we played a very, very good game."
After Katalin Tolnai scored in the 10th minute to open the scoring – the Griffins responded with the equalizer in the 30th.
"Great ball by Maya Morrell – she was a beast for us in both matches. Today, she really drove play for us and was our game MVP. She threaded a perfect pass to Alyx Henderson and she made no mistake."
Henderson's tally, her second of the campaign, was the first goal the Thunderbirds have conceded this season.
But Tolnai scored her Canada West-leading seventh goal of the season when she chipped in a cross from 14 yards out bar down.
"We got back behind by one, but we made some adjustments at half-time and came out absolutely flying," said Cordeiro. "For 30 minutes, we had chance after chance. Unfortunately, it didn't come. Sarah (Johns), their keeper – credit her – made some great saves. We had some very close calls and they saw it out."
Breanna Truscott makes one of her four saves. Among them was a stopped penalty kick in the second half (Rich Lam/UBC Athletics).
MacEwan's goalkeeper Breanna Truscott stopped a penalty kick in the 49th minute, robbing Danielle Steer on a blast to the right.
"Bre's great at PKs," said Cordeiro. "We do our due diligence watching film. She was up for it, read it very well and made a great save. That really kickstarted our 25-30 minutes when we had some momentum. It was a big moment in the game. Unfortunately, we just couldn't get level."
With the result, the Griffins are now 2-2-0 on the season. They next host UNBC on Sept. 17 (12 p.m., Clareview).
