Three Stars: Fayia, Alexander, Cabana earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Men's soccer student-athlete T-boy Fayia is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after his terrific performances in back-to-back home games on the weekend.
Fayia set up Felix Guité's PK goal against Saskatchewan when he was fouled in the box in the 88th minute, and played a huge role all over the pitch in 180 minutes of action over the weekend.
Women's soccer goalkeeper Sabrina Alexander and men's hockey forward Caden Cabana were named the second and third stars of the week, respectively.
It's the first Three Star honours of the 2025-26 season for all three student-athletes.
T-boy Fayia leaps to chip a pass to a teammate against Saskatchewan on Saturday (Norman Bo photo).
1st STAR: T-boy Fayia, D, men's soccer
Edmonton, AB, third-year, Arts
Healthy and rounding into top form, former FC Edmonton pro Fayia has been a major reason why the Griffins are competitive with anyone.
The third-year fullback not only looked after his usual defensive duties, he saw time up on the wing in weekend games against Saskatchewan and Lethbridge and consistently drove play.
On Saturday, Fayia was fouled in the box by Saskatchewan in the 88th minute, which set up Felix Guité's successful PK to open the scoring. He also had a shot in the contest.
On Sunday, he was all over the pitch, linking passes, winning battles and creating opportunities for the Griffins, finishing with two shots.
Fayia will lead the Griffins into road action this weekend as they visit UFV on Friday (8 p.m. MT) and Trinity Western on Saturday (8:15 p.m. MT, both Canada West TV).
Sabrina Alexander made 13 saves in MacEwan's road weekend at Calgary (above) and Mount Royal (Chris Lindsey photo).
2nd STAR: Sabrina Alexander, GK, women's soccer
Edmonton, AB, third-year, Nursing
Already third in Canada West in saves with 25, Alexander continues to give the Griffins her best every outing.
No one in the conference with that much volume can match her save percentage, which is a sizzling .862 through four games – fourth in Canada West, but she's seen at least twice as many shots as the top three have.
In Saturday's 1-0 loss at Calgary, Alexander gave MacEwan a chance, stopping five of six shots on goal.
In Sunday's 2-0 loss at Mount Royal, she finished with eight saves on 10 shots.
Her average of 6.25 saves/game so far, extrapolated out over a full 14-game regular season would break Emily Burns' program record of 85 set in 2016.
Alexander will lead the Griffins into home action this weekend as they host Regina on Saturday and Saskatchewan on Sunday (both 12 p.m., Edmonton Scottish, Canada West TV).
Caden Cabana, seen celebrating a goal against UBC in the playoffs last season, was in top form in the Griffins' preseason opening weekend against Red Deer Polytechnic (Jacob Mallari photo).
3rd STAR: Caden Cabana, F, men's hockey
Bonnyville, AB, second-year, Business Diploma
Not missing a beat since his terrific play in the Griffins' playoff series against UBC last February (three goals in three games), Cabana finished with a goal and two assists in a pair of exhibition games against Red Deer Polytechnic last weekend.
In MacEwan's first action of the preseason, his contributions went far beyond the scoresheet as he won faceoffs, played physical and executed the team's systems properly.
Cabana helped lead the Griffins to a 5-3 win in Red Deer in Game 1 of the weekend series before they took the lid off the score clock with a dominant 7-1 triumph on Saturday at the DCA.
He will be looking to build off a stellar rookie campaign where he finished with six goals and 10 points in 20 games.
Cabana and the Griffins will continue warming up for the regular season in their next action – a home-and-home non-conference series vs. cross-town rival Alberta on Sept. 19-20.
