Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Flash back five years ago to the provincial Jubilee Shield women's soccer championship game.
A young, upstart forward named Raeghan McCarthy – just 16 but proving she belonged
with the best adult female players in Alberta – played hero in extra time, scoring a goal that sent Northwest United to the national championship with a 3-2 win over Victoria FC.
Her clutch performance was a perfect piece of foreshadowing.
Now in her fourth season of eligibility with the MacEwan Griffins, McCarthy tied a program record for most career Canada West game-winning goals when she scored her sixth in opening the scoring just 2:30 into last Saturday's 2-0 win over Alberta.
McCarthy will have a chance to break the record when she leads the Griffins (1-0-0) into action on Sunday against Calgary (1-0-0) at 12 p.m. (Clareview Field, Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
"Tying the record is a great accomplishment for Rae and I know she is aiming to break it this season," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro of a mark she now shares with former Griffin Suekiana Choucair. "She's always in the right place at the right time and has scored huge goals for us. Not only that, but goals in big games; whether it's playoffs or against top opponents, Raeghan always seems to rise to the occasion."
Who can forget her performance against Regina in the 2018 Canada West Play-In match when she scored the game-winner 17 minutes into the contest and added the insurance marker before half-time in a 4-0 MacEwan win?
And there have been many others, including the record-tying tally off a set piece pass from Samantha Gouveia.
"I've always been a goal scorer, even since I've been young, so it's exciting to get a record like that," said McCarthy. "Those have obviously been big goals for us."
Raeghan McCarthy celebrates her goal against Alberta with teammates last Saturday (Chris Piggott photo).
Entering the Griffins program in 2017 as a forward, McCarthy was moved to attacking midfielder in the 2019 season. It's allowed her to reach another level in her play.
"It's changed how dynamic and athletic we are in our midfield," said Cordeiro. "You see Rae involved in almost every play – whether it's scoring a goal, sticking a tackle, or chasing someone down to make a huge defensive play. Raeghan is all over that pitch."
To be successful in that position requires a fearless approach and there's no doubt McCarthy has that. She was flattened in a yellow card-inducing tackle by Alberta's Kellie Haffie in the first half on Saturday, but bounced back up and kept going.
"She's isn't the biggest player, but she plays big," said Cordeiro. "She's tough and her timing is impeccable. Opponents try to slow her down and get her out of her rhythm because she's so difficult to play against."
In what may be her last season with the Griffins – (she has a year of eligibility left but is aiming to pursue a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy in 2022 after graduating with a Bachelor in Science in Psychology) – McCarthy is vying to be one of the top goal scorers in Canada West. A culmination of hard work and development over her time at MacEwan puts her in the conversation as one of the best in the league.
Raeghan McCarthy is looking to add to her 12 career Canada West goals with a big season for the Griffins (Chris Piggott photo).
"I think my first few years, I was a bit frustrated at times," she related. "I had a bad ankle injury. Then I had another hip injury. I was a little bit down on myself for a bit – I wasn't scoring the amount of goals that I wanted. But now being a vet, starting more and playing more minutes, it's a big role, it's exciting and I hope that I can be one of the top goal scorers this year."
If she does, MacEwan's fortunes will soar, too. But it's one game at a time for the Griffins, continuing with Sunday's game against Calgary, who are also unbeaten on the season after a 3-0 win over Mount Royal last Saturday.
The contest is a rematch of the 2019 Canada West semifinal when the Dinos beat the Griffins 1-0 on penalty kicks to deny MacEwan its first-ever U SPORTS national championship berth. Adding even more intrigue is the fact the respective head coaches on either side (Cordeiro and Calgary's Troye Flannery) coached together on the staff of the St. Albert Impact in their inaugural United Women's Soccer League season this summer.
"There's definitely strategy involved when you know each other's tendencies so well," said Cordeiro. "I have so much respect for Troye and the program he's built at the University of Calgary. But the past is the past. We're excited about the future.
"Our veterans remember the 2019 Canada West semifinal," he added. "That's going to be a big motivator for us on Sunday. It's going to be a great match."
