Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – As snow started accumulating before Saturday's Canada West match at Clarke Stadium, MacEwan goalkeeper Seth Johnstone put forward some top-shelf foreshadowing.
"Honestly, I told my coach before the game 'I play good in bad weather,' " the second-year keeper from Edmonton explained. "He was like 'prove it to me.' "
Consider it proven.
Johnstone put forward one of the finest goalkeeping performances the conference has seen in some time, making 16 saves to help MacEwan get a result in a 1-1 draw against the visiting Trinity Western Spartans.
"Seth was great for us today," said MacEwan head coach Adam Loga. "He kept us in and was a big reason why we got a point today.
"I thought we were against it in good portions – against the run of play for a good chunk of the game – so he was a big reason we were able to squeak out a draw."
Although there's no doubt TWU carried the lion's share of the play in the match, the point is a bit bittersweet for the Griffins considering they held a 1-0 lead through 90 minutes, bending but not breaking under an unwavering Spartans attack.
But in extra time, TWU's Josh Hardy finally beat Johnstone with a top-of-the-box blast off a nifty dish from Vito Poletto.
"There's no doubt it stings a bit that you're that close to three points, but at the same time they're a great side over there," said Loga. "They've won national championships over there, so for us to be a newer team to not only Canada West, but a newer team to winning, I think it's a testament to what we have in our locker-room.
"I think it's a good learning moment, but it's also a big step forward."
For the Spartans, it's certainly a result they will take, considering the alternative of being blanked on the table.
"We talk a lot about how the fact we're always going to get chances in our games with the way we play," said Spartans head coach Mike Shearon. "The difficulty today was a couple of poor shots, but the goalkeeper also came up huge. We hit two posts.
"That's just the way soccer is sometimes. You over-possess and don't get the results you want."
Against the run of play, MacEwan struck first in the contest – in the 19th minute – when Malcolm Stafford bulled his way through a defender on the right side and delivered a perfect cross for Everett Orgnero to blast past Spartans keeper Sebastian Colyn.
The Spartans came at the Griffins hard after that as the precision level slipped under sloppy wet snow conditions. Domenic Poletto beat a challenging Johnstone to a loose ball in the 21st minute but slid it wide of the right post.
Jacob Low was all over the defence with six shot attempts in 61 minutes – including three on goal – but he couldn't find the right finish. Aidan Moore, meanwhile, demanded a double team from the left side, consistently getting dangerous balls in, but it was nothing doing for TWU until Hardy scored.
"It was great," said Shearon of the tally that salvaged a result for TWU. "I thought Vito was going to have a hit and he played it back to Hardy. Josh is our left back and it was a fantastic finish.
"That's the quality of Josh and that's why he's in the group. That's the quality of our group. Today that's the only good one that we had and the rest of them came up short."
Seth Johnstone stares down one of Trinity Western's 32 shot attempts - and one of six from Spartans' Jacob Low - in a 1-1 tie (Chris Piggott photo).
Johnstone's best save of the night might have come in the 71st minute when Poletto slid onto a cross deep in the box and stabbed it toward the cage, but the MacEwan keeper laid out to catch it.
Johnstone even dug himself out of some trouble he created in the 84th minute after he gave up a free kick at the top of the box with a hand ball outside the area. On the ensuing free kick from Leighton Johnson, he dove to deflect the ball out of the top corner.
Despite his performance, a clean sheet just barely eluded him.
"I was looking back at the clock every five minutes, hoping the boys could keep the ball up," he said. "They got a lucky bounce and put a ball away good. I thought I played well, the team played well.
"It was a grind, but at the end we're happy with the point. Obviously three would have been better, but we're going to look forward to tomorrow and keep on going."
MacEwan (3-2-1) will host Victoria on Sunday (2:30 p.m.), while Trinity Western (2-1-3) will visit Lethbridge (2:15 p.m.).
FREE KICKS … TWU outshot MacEwan 32-8 (17-6 in shots on goal) … Saturday marked the return to Edmonton for former MacEwan defender Bryce Prochnau, who played three seasons (2014-16) for the Griffins, before joining TWU in 2018.
