Bye week gives Griffins chance to fine-tune finish ahead of road trip to Victoria, UBC
Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
There's no doubt a lack of finish has been a major reason why the Griffins men's soccer team finds itself at 1-3-0 in the Canada West standings.
With one more break here or there, they could easily be 4-0-0 instead.
In their last game against Lethbridge on Sept. 3, MacEwan outshot the Pronghorns 22-11 (11-6 on goal), carrying the play for most of the 90 minutes. Unfortunately, that added up to a stinging 2-1 defeat instead.
Over the Griffins' bye week, extra emphasis has been paid to precision in the attacking third as they get set to resume Canada West play at Victoria (1-4-1) on Friday (8:15 MT) and at UBC (3-0-1) on Saturday (8:30 p.m. MT). Both games are on Canada West TV.
"It's tough. That's why the good ones get paid the millions," said MacEwan head coach Adam Loga. "It's tough to find those natural finishers.
"That being said, we believe in our guys and put them to work, tasking them and challenging them to kind of get over that hump. Getting Christian Hernandez back will help."
Hernandez, who joined the Griffins midway through the 2016 season, has been shelved with a knee injury up until this point. But his ability to score has been well documented after he tallied twice in one game against Saskatchewan last season.
"He is a natural finisher, so it will be good to get him back," said Loga. "Just getting these guys reps and (getting them) more comfortable around the goal is kind of what we tasked them with."
Victoria and UBC will both present major tests for a Griffins team that looks transformed in 2017. No longer the squad that went 2-11-3 a year ago – MacEwan is currently tied for first in Canada West in shots per game – the weekend will present a big litmus test for them.
Are they ready to compete against elite programs with championship pedigree?
"Both solid programs," noted Loga. "Both programs have won national championships, so they're always going to be prepared, they're always going to be organized and they're always going to put up a fight and compete to win.
"We've done our homework on them and we hope the boys can execute the game plan and go from there."
One thing's for certain: The Griffins have had plenty of time to prepare over their 11-day bye-week period.
"I think our bye weeks are well placed this year," said Loga. "Obviously starting camp Aug. 1 and going hard the last six or seven weeks or so, I think it came at a good time.
"We get some guys back this weekend that we didn't have the first two weekends of play, so it's bought us some time to get a full side out. At the same time, I thought the results weren't in our favour but we were playing decent football as well. I guess we'll see."
