MacEwan Athletics and UBCO Athletics
KELOWNA, B.C. – Unable to bury their chances early in the game, the MacEwan Griffins were stunned by a 90th-minute goal to lose in upset fashion at the UBC-Okanagan Heat in Canada West women's soccer action on Saturday afternoon.
As the Heat attacked at the end of the second half, Brittany Wheeler crossed the ball in for Kylee Walker, who deftly chipped it over the shoulder of charging Griffins Keeper Emily Burns, finding the left corner and sending the home fans into a frenzy.
All MacEwan (7-5-1) could do after falling 1-0 to the 2-8-3 Heat was take a lesson out of it as they move forward to the playoffs.
"It's a lesson that a team's never out of it," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "If you don't take a game away from a team when you have some good opportunities, they're going to come back to haunt you. Sure enough, UBCO did today."
Playing against a team they handled with ease in a 3-0 victory earlier this season, the Griffins got off to a strong start. Meghan Oram chipped a first-half chance just wide over Heat keeper Francesca Balletta after catching UBCO's defence napping on a dropkick pass from Burns.
"We wanted to have a strong start, which we did," said Cordeiro. "We were all over them the first 10-15 minutes and … I think we thought it might come a bit easier today than expected.
"UBCO's much improved. They proved it today. Craig (Smith) is a very good coach. He's got them well-organized and playing the right way. The longer we kept them in the game, the stronger they became."
MacEwan continued to pour on the pressure in the second half as rookie striker Raeghan McCarthy created multiple chances, including a shot from outside the box that went through Balletta's hands and wide for a corner.
Ultimately, though, the Griffins were unable to score for the fifth time this season.
"I think it's an eye-opener for us that again we've got to make the most of our opportunities," said Cordeiro. "We had a bunch today that didn't come."
Jamie Erickson was named MacEwan's player of the game.
While the result is a shocking one, it won't end up hurting MacEwan in the standings. They came into the final weekend of the regular season most likely set to wind up fourth in the Pacific Division and that's exactly where they'll finish. MacEwan's chances at earning one of the top-two seeds in the division went out the window when Victoria tied Trinity Western on Friday night and UFV was unable to make up the necessary ground to pressure the Griffins for fourth.
Still, a bitter loss on Saturday sends the Griffins into their final regular season game on Sunday at Thompson Rivers University (1 p.m. MT, Canada West TV) in Kamloops, B.C. with something to prove as they look to build momentum for the post-season. The 2-8-3 WolfPack are alive for the final Pacific Division playoff spot, although they would need to win and have UNBC lose at UBCO for that to happen.
"Tomorrow I'm looking forward to the response in the group. It's a huge game for us," said Cordeiro, whose squad whipped the WolfPack 7-2 earlier this season. "I told them afterwards, we're obviously disappointed not getting the three points today, but I'm a big believer everything happens for a reason.
"I think we needed a bit of a wakeup call here to fire everybody up. I know the team will be ready to rock and roll tomorrow and we'll need to be. That will obviously give us some momentum going into the next season."
While the Griffins will not have a home playoff game, at least they'll be in Edmonton next weekend. As the fourth seed in the Pacific Division, their first-round of post-season play will be at the home of the top seed in the Prairie Division, which is going to be Alberta (9-2-2).
All that's left to decide is who the Griffins will meet in the first game of the weekend at Foote Field for the right to play Alberta in Game 2, with the winner of the three-team bracket advancing to the Canada West Final Four.
Currently, Lethbridge (4-7-2) occupies fifth place in the Prairie Division and would be MacEwan's opponent if the playoffs began today. But the Pronghorns would dump Mount Royal (4-5-4) into fifth if they beat them at home on Sunday. If they tie or lose that game, though, Manitoba (3-7-3) would move past them into fifth with a win over Regina (1-6-6).
MacEwan has not played Lethbridge this season, but they've beaten all the other potential teams in that bracket, posting 1-0 wins over Alberta, MRU and Manitoba.
