Familiar opponent awaits Griffins in opening match of women's soccer playoffs
Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Familiarity is an advantage both the MacEwan Griffins and Mount Royal University Cougars have going for them as they head into their Canada West women's soccer opening-round playoff match on Friday (2 p.m., Foote Field).
Not only did they meet earlier this season – (a 1-0 win for MacEwan) – but they also met a year ago in the first round of the playoffs (also a 1-0 win for MacEwan).
"We're approaching it as we would any other match," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro. "The nice thing is we've got some familiarity. We've played them in the same conference for the last few years.
"So, we're very familiar with the group and their playing style," he continued. "We're comfortable in that regard, but they're a very good team. They're well coached. It's playoffs. It's a one-off, so we've got to be ready. We've got to be playing at our best. It's an advantage for both teams because they know our playing style, as well."
The winner of the contest will advance to meet the Alberta Pandas on Sunday (2 p.m., Foote Field) for the right to play in the Canada West Final Four tournament the following weekend.
The 8-5-1 Griffins, who finished fourth in the Pacific Division, come in as the favourites over the 4-6-4 Cougars, who finished fifth in the Prairie Division. But anything's possible in a one-game playoff.
"At the end of the day, we've got to go out and if we play 90 minutes and execute our game plan, we're going to get to where we want to go," said Cordeiro.
The Griffins are coming into the match off a 2-0 win at Thompson Rivers, but they left some points on the table down the stretch – namely a 1-1 tie at 1-9-4 Winnipeg and a 1-0 loss at 2-9-3 UBC-Okanagan – as their offence sputtered against non-playoff teams.
"I think we've been really unlucky not to have scored more goals," said Cordeiro, whose team tallied 12 times in its first four matches – en route to a U Sports top-10 ranking – before scoring just six in their final 10 games. "We're doing a lot of great things on the pitch. We're creating a ton of chances and I'm a big believer that you've got to stay the course and you've got to trust the process."
The Cougars are coming into the contest winless in their last seven games and spent the final weekend getting outscored 5-0 by Calgary and Lethbridge. But in the post-season, everyone gets a fresh slate.
"We are excited about playing MacEwan and it'll come down to 90 minutes of football," Cougars head coach Tino Fusco told the MRU website. "From what we've seen this year from MacEwan is that they are very direct. They like to go what we call route one and so we'll try to counter that and see how they respond."
The Griffins are set up well to respond to adversity as they have nine returning players who were on the 2016 team that came within a win of advancing to the national championship.
"I think we need to lean on that heavily," said Cordeiro. "Only one is a fifth year. The other eight are only second or third years. So, it's still a very young group. It's a lot of good experience to have early on their university careers, for sure. But they've got to go to the vault and use some of those experiences when the going gets tough because we all know now there's more pressure across the board.
"Hopefully those experiences will help keep us level-headed and when there's ups and downs and ebbs and flows in a match, we can go back to those moments from last year – 'OK we've been through this and know what to expect.' "
If MacEwan can win and advance, it would set up a rematch with the Pandas, who topped the Prairie Division with a 10-2-2 record. The Griffins one of only two teams to beat Alberta this season, topping them 1-0 on Brittany Costa's dramatic winner just before the final whistle on Sept. 15.
Cordeiro, however, isn't thinking at all about a potential rematch with their cross-town rivals.
"We don't get to Sunday without Friday," he noted. "All of our prep, everything that we do right now is for Mount Royal.
"We need to focus on the task and we'd be foolish to start looking at the U of A game on Sunday."
