David Sithole scoops up the ball under pressure from Calgary's Owen Antoniuk on Saturday. He made eight saves, but the Griffins fell 5-1 (Chris Lindsey photo).
David Sithole scoops up the ball under pressure from Calgary's Owen Antoniuk on Saturday. He made eight saves, but the Griffins fell 5-1 (Chris Lindsey photo).
October 5, 2024

Despite tough loss to Calgary, Griffins remain in the hunt for a playoff spot

Box Score

MacEwan Athletics 

CALGARY – After scoring first in the 30th minute, things went the wrong way for the MacEwan Griffins men's soccer team on Saturday as they allowed five unanswered goals to fall 5-1 to the Calgary Dinos.

With the result, MacEwan dropped to 3-7-1, unable to gain ground on the Lethbridge Pronghorns for the final playoff spot in the Prairie Division. After Lethbridge played to a scoreless draw with Saskatchewan on Saturday, the Griffins are three points behind them with a game in hand, but they hold the season series against the Pronghorns, so there's still plenty left to play for.

After weathering an early Dinos' storm, which included two goals called back on offsides, the Griffins opened the scoring when Rakan Yassin curled a free kick around the wall and into the far corner for his fifth of the season.

"Ricky keeps being 'the guy,'" said Griffins head coach Adam Loga. "We continue to be so grateful to have him in our program. Hopefully, we can get back to work and give him a season to remember."

But it was all Calgary after that with goals by Jacob Hunter, William Omoreniye, Owen Antoniuk, Gianmarco Plenzik and Spencer McCallum for a lopsided result.

The Griffins were outshot 32-5 (13-2 on goal). David Sithole, in his first start of the season, made eight saves for MacEwan.

"We had no compete; we are not happy with our performance," said Loga. "We will be better tomorrow."

MacEwan visits Mount Royal (4-2-5) on Sunday (3 p.m., Canada West TV).