Three Stars: Mwasalla, Breitenbach, Popravka earn honours
October 21, 2025

Three Stars: Mwasalla, Breitenbach, Popravka earn honours

MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Women's soccer student-athlete Grace Mwasalla is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after her goal against Alberta on Saturday moved her into a tie for the all-time Canada West lead in game-winning goals.

Mwasalla's ninth-minute bar-down header was the only goal the Griffins would need in a 3-0 win over their cross-town rivals, and it was her record-tying 13th career game-winner.

Men's volleyball outside hitter Fabian Breitenbach and men's soccer goalkeeper Oleksandr Popravka were named the second and third stars, respectively.

It's the third time this season that Mwasalla has appeared on the Three Stars list, having previously been named first star on Sept. 16 and Sept. 30 

Both Breitenbach and Popravka are making their first appearance of 2025-26.

Grace Mwasalla gets off a shot against the Alberta Pandas on Saturday. She scored the winner in the ninth minute - her 13th career GWG - and is now the co-leader all-time in Canada West history in the stat (Husain Dhooma photo).

1st STAR: Grace Mwasalla, F, women's soccer

Calgary, AB, fifth-year, Arts

It was a magical and memorable Senior Day for Mwasalla, who was one of five graduating players competing in their final home match on Saturday.

She scored a highlight-reel goal in the ninth minute, going bar down on a header off a corner kick for a goal that would stand up as the game-winner in a 3-0 victory over cross-town rival Alberta.

It was Mwasalla's 13th career game-winning goal, moving her into a tie for the all-time lead in Canada West history with UBC's Jasmin Dhanda (2013-17).

The tally was also the 37th regular season goal of her career, moving her into a tie for eighth in Canada West history.

Mwasalla also finished the season with seven points and will head into the record books with 52 for her career, tied for 12th in conference history.

The Griffins next head into a quarter-final playoff match at Trinity Western on Friday (7 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).

Fabian Breitenbach had a sizzling .619 hitting percentage against Calgary last Friday, a mark that broke the program's rookie record (Taylor Lafond photo).

2nd STAR: Fabian Breitenbach, OH, men's volleyball

Stuttgart, Germany, first-year, Commerce

In one of the best debut performances ever by a Griffins student-athlete, Breitenbach broke a program record with his top-shelf attacking efficiency against Calgary last Friday.

The 6-foot-5 opposite finished the match with 16 kills with just three errors on 21 attempts for a .619 hitting percentage. 

That shattered the program record for the highest efficiency by a Griffins rookie in a Canada West match on a minimum of 20 attempts (previously held by Carsten Bergeron with a .500 against MRU in 2022).

It's also the second-best hitting percentage in a Canada West game by any Griffins men's volleyball player, behind only Seth Birkholz's .650 in a 2023-24 match.

Breitenbach currently leads the Griffins with 29 kills through his first two matches and is fourth in Canada West with a 4.14 kills/set average.

The Griffins are getting set for their home opener vs. Thompson Rivers University (Friday, 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, 4:30 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

Goalkeeper Oleksandr Popravka, seen in action against Lethbridge last Friday, led the Griffins to a pair of draws on their final regular season weekend, helping them finish unbeaten in their final four games (Cameron Yoos photo).

3rd STAR: Oleksandr Popravka, GK, men's soccer

Kyiv, Ukraine, second-year, Business Management

Heading into retirement from soccer, not just from Canada West, Popravka shone in the final two matches of his playing career, which included playing professionally in his native Ukraine.

The 33-year-old stopped five of six shots in Friday's 1-1 draw at Lethbridge and saved three out of four in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Saskatchewan as the Griffins finished the season on a four-game unbeaten streak.

His weekend highlight-reel save was a robbery of Saskatchewan's Ryan Ko in the 51st minute on Sunday when the fullback was in alone and blasted a point-blank shot that Popravka parried away. It certainly was key in preserving the tie for MacEwan.

For the season, Popravka finished with 43 saves and two shutouts. He is third in the program's Canada West history with 97 career saves, second in wins (5) and second in shutouts (3).