Three Stars: Roach, Walisser, Murray earn honours
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Men's hockey student-athlete Curtis Roach is the MacEwan Athletics' first star of the week after leading the Griffins to a weekend split against Trinity Western University.
Roach had a standout performance in Friday's 7-0 win with a goal and three assists at the Downtown Community Arena.
Men's volleyball student-athlete Alexei Walisser was named second star, while women's hockey forward Amanda Murray nets third-star honours.
It's the first appearance of the season for all three on the MacEwan Three Stars list.
1st STAR: Curtis Roach, D, men's hockey
Saskatoon, SK, third-year, Commerce
Roach set a new record for the most points in a single Canada West game by a Griffins player when he produced a goal and three assists in Friday's 7-0 win over Trinity Western University.
The third-year defenceman was the key to MacEwan's deadly powerplay – which went 4-for-7 in the win – as he scored a goal, along with two powerplay helpers. He also added an even strength assist on Chase Thudium's seventh goal of the game.
Roach finished with four shots and went +2 in the win, meaning he was on the ice for five of MacEwan's seven goals.
The transfer from the NAIT Ooks didn't hit the scoresheet in Saturday's 6-4 loss as the Spartans game-planned for him, with an aggressive penalty kill strategy that took away his point shot. Still, Roach finished with four shots.
For the season, Roach is second on MacEwan in scoring with three goals and eight points in eight games.
The Griffins head into a home-and-home series vs. cross-town rival Alberta this weekend with Friday's game at the Downtown Community Arena (7 p.m., Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
Alexei Walisser produced a team-high 17 kills in Saturday's 3-1 win over Mount Royal University (Eduardo Perez photo).
2nd STAR: Alexei Walisser, OH, men's volleyball
Peace River, AB, fourth-year, Commerce
The fourth-year student-athlete, who was known for producing huge kills numbers during a prolific ACAC career at Lakeland College prior to transferring to MacEwan, is coming into his own in Canada West.
Walisser led the Griffins with 17 kills in Saturday's 3-1 victory over Mount Royal University, showing terrific poise with a .394 hitting efficiency. He also added an ace, four digs and accounted for 18.0 points.
In Friday's 3-0 loss, he had four kills and three digs.
Walisser leads the Griffins with 58 kills on the season so far and is tied for the team lead in points (62.0).
The Griffins will visit cross-town rival Alberta this weekend over at the Saville Centre (Friday, 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, 6 p.m., both Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
Amanda Murray, seen in action against UBC earlier this season, was terrific on the penalty kill as the Griffins blanked Trinity Western in back-to-back games (Joel Kingston photo).
3rd STAR: Amanda Murray, F, women's hockey
Edmonton, AB, fourth-year, Arts
The veteran forward was a big reason why the MacEwan Griffins didn't allow a goal in a pair of weekend wins over the Trinity Western Spartans – the first series sweep in the program's Canada West history.
A go-to penalty killer for the Griffins, Murray frustrated the Spartans all weekend, holding them to 0-for-5 on the powerplay.
She also combined for five shots in both games as MacEwan shut out Trinity Western 2-0 and 1-0 behind goose-eggs from goaltenders Natalie Bender and Brianna Sank, respectively.
For the season, Murray has one goal and 14 shots in nine games.
The Griffins are heading into a weekend home-and-home series vs. cross-town rival Alberta with Saturday's game (5 p.m.) at the Downtown Community Arena (Canada West TV presented by Co-op).
