Home Preview: WSOC hosts Winnipeg, Manitoba; huge WVB tournament at MacEwan
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Scoring doesn't come easy in footie, so what the MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team is doing in 2024 is verging on something special.
Through eight games, they have scored 28 goals (an average of 3.5 per game), which puts them on pace to break the program record of 43 they scored in 14 games in 2022 (3.07 average).
The best part about it is the scoring has been so spread around that 14 different players have at least a point.
More importantly, the scoring has led to victories as the Griffins enter the weekend on a five-game winning streak.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
On Tap
Saturday: vs. Winnipeg, 12 p.m., Edmonton Scottish, Canada West TV
Sunday: vs. Manitoba, 11 a.m., Edmonton Scottish, Canada West TV
Last meetings
Sept. 21: MacEwan 3 at Manitoba 1
Sept. 22: MacEwan 5 at Winnipeg 0
Records prior to Saturday
MacEwan (6-1-1) 2nd Prairie Division
Winnipeg (1-7-0) 8th Prairie Division
Manitoba (2-6-0) T6th Prairie Division
Playoff implications
The Griffins are just two points behind the Calgary Dinos for first place in the Prairie Division, so their goal is to keep pace with them until they visit the Dinos on the final day of the regular season (Oct. 20) with a chance to vault ahead into first place.
Dean Cordeiro's Coach's Quote:
"The team's in a really good place. I told the team after Game 7, after we scored five against Regina, we were at 26 goals for. It was two more than what we scored all of last season. And we were still sixth in the league in scoring last year. So, that just puts things in perspective for them.
"I said 'listen, you don't even notice and there's lots of room for improvement, but those are the (byproducts) when you're doing things the right way. We're only halfway through a season and we've already scored more goals than we did the entire year before. That's a testament to this team. It's next person up. You see how balanced the scoring is. It's not just one individual. It's the collective."
Players to watch
MacEwan: Hannah Harper – The second year attacking midfielder is coming into the weekend a few days after being named Canada West women's soccer player of the week, following her program record-tying four-point game against Regina last Saturday.
Winnipeg: Brianna Machado – The forward played two games for the Griffins in her rookie Canada West season in 2021 before transferring to Winnipeg to play in her hometown. She's now a key player for the Wesmen, starting five games for them so far this season. When the Griffins visited them last month, Machada played all 90 minutes, recording a shot on goal.
Manitoba: Jessica Tsai – The Bisons may be out of the playoff picture, but the fifth-year midfielder is having an all-star calibre season, entering the weekend tied for fourth in Canada West in points (8), and sitting fifth in goals (4). She has also taken the second-most shots in the conference (33), so expect her to come out firing on Sunday.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
On Tap
MacEwan home tournament in the David Atkinson Gym (see graphic below for full schedule)
Friday: vs. Memorial, 1 p.m.
Friday: vs. Winnipeg, 5 p.m.
Saturday: vs. UAlberta-Augustana, 12 p.m.
Saturday: vs. Brandon, 6 p.m.
Sunday: vs. Saskatchewan, 10 a.m.
Sunday: vs. Red Deer Polytechnic, 2 p.m.
Chris Wandler's Coach's Quote:
"It's an opportunity to see some different people in the preseason with the intention of trying to put some things into play that we've been training. Seeing how consistent can we be over longer periods of time. There's obviously six games, so it gives the coaching staff lots of time to do more evaluation."
