Griffins set to meet Trinity Western for a second-straight year in the opening round of the playoffs
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Team Stats
Trinity Western
| Game Statistics | MacEwan University | Trinity Western |
|---|---|---|
| Shots (on goal) | 7 (4) | 17 (7) |
| Saves | 6 | 4 |
| Fouls | 11 | 11 |
| Corner Kicks | 2 | 9 |
| Offsides | 0 | 2 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Riding a bit of an emotional roller-coaster, the Griffins women's soccer team went from the high of winning big in their regular season finale on Saturday to the realization they wouldn't be hosting a playoff game after all when Mount Royal upset Calgary on Sunday.
No matter.
Like water off a duck's back, they moved on quickly, zeroing in their focus on the only thing that matters in the here and now: beating Trinity Western on the road in a single-elimination quarter-final match on Friday (7 p.m. MT, Canada West TV).
"You know what? I think it's a blessing in disguise, to be honest," said Griffins head coach Dean Cordeiro, whose team finished with a 9-3-2 record, two points behind 10-3-1 MRU for second in the Prairie Division, thus sending them on the road to face Pacific No. 2 Trinity Western (10-3-1). "For us, a road trip and flight to B.C. will be a good thing for the team. Plus, we fell a bit short last year to Trinity, so to be able to have the rematch is what everybody wanted. We're excited for that."
Yes, it's setting up a potential redemption story for the Griffins. Last season, they were the No. 2 seed, hosting No. 3 TWU, and were upset 2-1 in the quarter-finals at Edmonton Scottish.
"I think last year we were maybe kind of shocked by their speed of play and their physicality," said veteran forward Grace Mwasalla. "That's something we're going to be able to match this year.
"We're just excited for the challenge ahead of us and the chance to kind of redeem ourselves."
Rosters are certainly a bit different for both teams a year later, but there are certainly some takeaways from that contest the Griffins can learn from.
"I think every game, there's something to be learned," said Cordeiro. "There's so much turnover (since then) with graduating players, so what we can expect is a similar style of play. I think we can take that away when we're breaking down that film from that game and the tendencies that they tried to do. It was an extremely close game. They got a penalty to win it and that's how close it was."
Even though they don't see each other in the regular season anymore, MacEwan and Trinity Western aren't strangers, meeting every year in the winter season. And prior to their 2024 playoff match, they famously met in an epic 2021 U SPORTS national final that remained tied 2-2 after overtime and was won by the Griffins on penalties.
2021 also comes into play this weekend for the field they'll be playing on. Chase Office Field is the exact spot the Griffins booked their ticket to nationals with a win over Saskatchewan in the 2021 Canada West bronze medal match.
Grace Mwasalla celebrates her goal against Saskatchewan in the 2021 Canada West bronze medal match on the same field they'll play on this Friday (Scott Stewart photo).
"Yeah. Scoring that goal was unreal," said Mwasalla, who had the insurance marker in a 2-0 win that day. "We're hoping to have similar success again this go around. It's been good to us, so we're hoping for a good result and a good game."
Beyond all the back stories, the most important thing is how the Griffins are playing. In Saturday's 3-0 thrashing of the cross-town rival Alberta Pandas in their regular season finale, MacEwan looked more like themselves than in any other contest this season.
"From start to finish, it was great," said Mwasalla. "We really excecuted everything we worked on throughout the entire week. We got off to a quick start, which is great. We were able to get that 2-0 lead going into the half and then to get that insurance marker in the second half was brilliant.
"We just had an overall collective team win and we're just looking to stack on that now."
The Griffins finished the season with a 4-0-1 record in their final five matches.
"You want to be playing your best football this time of year," said Cordeiro. "You don't want to peak too early. I think for us, we're on an upwards trajectory right now which is what you want going into playoffs.
"I thought Saturday was a hell of a performance by the team in terms of executions and what we want to do. We just want to keep getting better every day and if we play like we did on Saturday we like our chances no matter who we play."
