Macky Mahfouz lets Ali Yildiz's pass go between his legs to the trailer Nicolas Luczkiewicz, who slotted it in the corner to open the scoring for MacEwan on Sunday (Norman Bo photo).
Macky Mahfouz lets Ali Yildiz's pass go between his legs to the trailer Nicolas Luczkiewicz, who slotted it in the corner to open the scoring for MacEwan on Sunday (Norman Bo photo).
September 21, 2025

Griffins settle for a draw with Heat after dominating play with a man up for more than 76 minutes

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Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – Staring at their biggest opportunity to net a victory so far this season with the fellow winless UBC Okanagan Heat visiting on Sunday, the MacEwan Griffins caught a bonus break early in the contest.

Allan Yin was straight red-carded for shoving Ali Yildiz in the face just 13:36 into the game, forcing the visitors to play a man short for the final 76 minutes and change.

Unfortunately for MacEwan, they were unable to take advantage, settling for a 1-1 draw.

"It's obviously not the result we wanted (playing for) 80 minutes with a man up," said MacEwan goal scorer Nicolas Luczkiewicz. "The team played well. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way. We're going to keep fighting next week and try to get those points."

With the result, the Griffins are now 0-6-3, while UBCO moves to 0-6-2.

MacEwan opened the scoring in the 43rd minute when Macky Mahfouz let Yildiz's pass up top go through his legs for the trailer Luczkiewicz to slot in the corner – his first career Canada West goal.

"It feels good," he said of scoring. "I've been playing for so long and I could never get that goal. I've had a bunch of assists, so it just feels good to pop it in finally."

But the Heat countered quickly, nearly equalizing just over a minute later when Gavin La Montagne got all of a one-timer from 10 feet out, but MacEwan goaltender Oleksandr Popravka made a highlight-reel point-blank stop.

The Heat's late-half surge, though, wouldn't be denied as La Montagne corralled an extra-time free kick and touched it perfectly to Dario Fedele to one-time into the cage. To be fair to the narrative, the teams were playing 10-on-10 at the time as MacEwan defender Liam Van Laar was on the sidelines getting medical attention for a bloody nose.

"We switched off there just before half and it turns into 1-1 and the stakes change a little bit versus being up 1-0 at the half," said Griffins head coach Adam Loga. "Just a missed opportunity – another – which is sad."

MacEwan had the lion's share of possession and chances in the second half as the Heat bent but didn't break, consistently clearing dangerous crosses out of the area. 

Yildiz had an excellent chance in the 63rd, zooming into the box and unleashing a rocket, but Heat keeper Tyson Gugushe was in a perfect position to parry it away.

Van Laar put a header just over the bar in the 89th and Mahfouz had a few promising dangles in the area, but his shots were blocked.

Mahfouz wound up breaking the program record for the most shots in a Canada West game by a Griffins rookie with eight, eclipsing the seven Everett Orgnero had in a 2018 match. That also ties the program record by any Griffins player, originally set Zibusiso Moyo in 2017 and matched by Ricky Yassin last season.

Unfortunately nothing more went in for the Griffins.

"I think we stayed together well as a team," said Luczkiewicz. "We didn't get on each other's backs even when things weren't going our way. I think we should just carry that into next week where we stay together keep working and results have to come eventually."

The Griffins outshot the Heat 23-8 (7-4 on goal). Gugushe made six saves for UBCO, while Popravka stopped three for MacEwan.

Ultimately, though, shots mean little if the ball doesn't go in.

"We didn't concede a set piece this weekend and we only conceded two goals in two games," said Loga of their weekend. "So, that part is good. We generated opportunities but didn't put them away. Goals change games and we didn't score enough to change enough."

Next up for MacEwan is another home weekend vs. Mount Royal and Calgary on Sept. 27-28.