Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Cliché. Boring even.
But it works.
'One game at a time.'
That's long been the mantra of the MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team as they continue to run through a tough gauntlet of Canada West competition with a target on their backs as the defending U SPORTS champions.
The latest two-game set will see them travel to Lethbridge to meet the Pronghorns (Saturday, 12 p.m.) and then to Calgary to visit Mount Royal University (Sunday, 1 p.m., both Canada West TV).
"We're going to reset and refocus after this big six-point weekend we just had and we're going to take it one game at a time," said head coach Dean Cordeiro, whose team recorded wins over UNBC (3-0) and Calgary (1-0) last weekend.
"Our focus will be on the first game against Lethbridge and then we'll switch gears and prepare for a Mount Royal team coming off a big win on Sunday (2-0 over UBC Okanagan). It's always tricky on the road, although those are two venues we like to go and play at, for sure."
For good reason. The Griffins have a combined 11-1-2 record in visits to play those two teams since they joined Canada West in 2014.
But 2022 is all that matters right now and MacEwan goes south this weekend looking to increase their lead atop the Prairie Division standings. The No. 7-ranked team in U SPORTS will put a 4-2-0 record on the line against Lethbridge (0-4-2) and MRU (3-2-1).
Cordeiro likes the growth his team has shown since the beginning of the season.
"We graduated five senior players and we've got some young pieces who are finding their way," he said. "They've made exponential growth from the start of the year to where we are now. More opportunity provides more experience and I think these footballers in our program are ready for more. They've grown with the opportunity given and we've seen some of our core pieces really driving the bus for us.
"It's exciting to see this team grow as much as it has in the early part of the year, but there's still a lot of growth that needs to happen. One day at a time, this team is coming together and it's coming together nicely."
Lethbridge is playing its fourth game in the span of a week on Saturday after drawing 1-1 with UFV in a rare Tuesday game – a makeup contest from earlier in the season.
"It's a bit of a unique week for Lethbridge with a Tuesday game rescheduled from a cancellation when they were out in B.C., so they've got a short week," said Cordeiro. "We'll watch closely and get ourselves ready."
"We can't wait for the weekend. It's going to be another good opportunity for us to grow as a group."
