Supreme West Coast tests await Griffins on road trip
Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – What a difference a week makes.
The Griffins women's soccer team would probably like to rent a time machine to go back to Sept. 19 when they were blissfully sitting atop the Canada West standings at 4-0-0 and riding high aboard a U Sports top-10 ranking.
Now they've fallen to 4-2-0 after losing to UFV and Trinity Western over the weekend and head out on the road to face two B.C. powerhouse teams who boast a combined record of 11-2-1.
That's not to mention injury troubles that have sent two starters – Kristyn Smart (knee, out indefinitely) and Meagan Lemoine (concussion, day-to-day) – to the sidelines already.
Chins up.
"Obviously not having our top offensive threat (Lemoine) hurt in those two results and her status is yet to be determined for this weekend," said head coach Dean Cordeiro whose squad visits UBC (6-1-0) on Friday (7:30 p.m. MT) and Victoria (5-1-1) on Saturday (6 p.m. MT). "That would be a huge plus for us if she's back for us.
"We're slowly getting a little healthier. It was nice to see Sarah Riddle (out with an injury the first four games) play a good role this weekend, albeit in limited minutes. She was a spark and what we needed."
The Griffins' offence, which produced 12 goals in its first four games, had trouble generating much after leading scorer Lemoine cracked heads with a defender early in the UFV game last Friday and hasn't been back in the lineup since.
"It's not an excuse. All the teams in our league are dealing with injuries," said Cordeiro. "For us, it's got to be next man up. They've got to be ready to step in and contribute.
"We're a deep team, so that's exciting. Everyone we've called on has went in and been exceptional, so that's exciting. We're still a young team that's been having a lot of success, but this is a tough little stretch for us.
"It's going to be a very tough task, but our girls will be up for it."
Stopping UBC's dynamic forward duo – Jasmine Dhanda and Aman Shergill – will be another big challenge for MacEwan elite defensive back-line and all-star goalkeeper Emily Burns. The Thunderbirds duo has combined for 14 goals so far this season, including 10 from Dhanda – the 2015 Canada West MVP.
"What's given UBC another dynamic is they moved Aman up from centre back to the front line," said Cordeiro. "The two of them pose a lethal duo in our conference, so they'll be a handful.
"It makes the matchup a little bit of a nightmare, but again we're going to have to get our tactics right and do what we can to limit their opportunities," he continued. "We've always been strong defensively and our girls will be up for the challenge of playing against some of the best players in our conference."
Victoria, led by Kiara Kilby's six goals, will be no picnic either, but MacEwan is trying to get past the UBC challenge first.
"It's a tough road trip versus two of the top teams in the conference," said Cordeiro. "So, we've got to work on a few things from this past week in practice to make sure we're sharp.
"Anything but our best against those types of programs isn't going to cut it."
