Griffins outcompeted in rematch, settle for weekend split after 'disappointing' 6-1 loss to UBC
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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|
1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
Team Stats
UBC
| Game Statistics | UBC | MacEwan University |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 3 for 9 | 0 for 4 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 4 (8) | 9 (18) |
| Shots on Goal | 31 | 14 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jason Hills
For MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – The MacEwan Griffins have been consistently inconsistent so far this season.
After knocking off the No. 3-ranked UBC Thunderbirds with a thrilling 5-4 OT win on Friday night, they followed it up with a disappointing 6-1 loss on Saturday at the Downtown Community Arena.
Chris Douglas led the way offensively with one goal and two assists, while Scott Atkinson (2g), Nathan Sullivan (1g, 1a), Jake Lee (1g, 1a), and Cyle McNabb (2a) all had multi-point efforts in the win as UBC improved to 10-1-1.
Liam Hughes scored the lone marker for the Griffins who dropped to 6-6-1-1.
"It's super disappointing," said Griffins head coach Zack Dailey.
"I thought we had lots of energy yesterday, and you knew a good team (UBC) would come back with a great effort after they lost a game, and we weren't ready to play. We got out-competed, out skated, we had a lack of discipline. It was a disappointing effort today."
An early penalty gave UBC, the best power play team in the conference, a golden opportunity to open the scoring and they made no mistake as Ty Thorpe snuck into the slot and snapped home his fifth goal of the year just 2:49 into the contest.
But despite being down early, MacEwan pushed back and had some quality scoring looks in the first period.
They controlled the play and had four power play chances in the opening frame, including a two-man advantage for 1:50, but they couldn't capitalize.
Their power play looked dangerous on their first few man advantages but looked discombobulated on their fourth chance of the period.
Despite the significant power play time, they were outshot 10-6 in the first period.
"I thought we got some good looks early. Our expectation of the power play is to create scoring chances and get energy for our group. I thought they created chances, but they got outworked tonight, and the energy wasn't there," said Dailey.
UBC used their momentum of their strong penalty killing, and having a 1-0 lead, and were able to jump all over MacEwan early in the second period.
A deflection gets a little close for comfort for Keaton Dowhaniuk (Liam Froment photo).
The Griffins found themselves down 3-0, after two goals in a 14-second span just 1:24 into the second period.
Douglas got open in the slot and snapped a hard shot off the post and in at the 1:10 mark, and Lee made it 3-0 when he beat Griffins goaltender Eric Ward from the top of the faceoff circle.
"It just went sideways on us in the second period. We took too many penalties, and we chased the whole game," said Hughes.
"Those two bounces (second and third goals) just took us right out of it, and we couldn't find our game after that. We had chances on the power play, as well (in the first period), but we couldn't score."
The Griffins have shown this year that when they get down, they tend to not let it spiral out of control. They push back and can typically make a game of it, but against an experienced team like UBC, they capitalized on some miscues, and the Griffins were simply flat in all areas of their game.
"It's disappointing, and we didn't have an answer after those two quick goals. The bench was quiet, and our whole group just lacked energy," said Dailey.
Down 3-0, the Griffins started to show some frustration, and they gave UBC too many opportunities on the power play, which clicked at a 3-for-9 rate.
Nathan Sullivan made it 4-0 when his shot from the point pinballed off some bodies and past Ward, and Atkinson scored the T-Birds second power play marker of the game with 1:30 left to make it 5-0.
GOAL
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Hockey (@GriffinsMHKY) November 16, 2025
Liam Hughes shows some great third-period hustle, picking a pocket and finding the top corner to get @MacEwanGriffins on the board.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/G3WhTGOqaI
Hughes scored his fifth goal of the season at the 6:25 mark of the third period to cut the UBC lead to 5-1 on a great individual play where he pick-pocketed a defender, went in alone and wired it top shelf to spoil Schwebius' shutout bid.
UBC rounded out the scoring with another powerplay marker at 9:41 mark of the third.
The Griffins have reached the halfway mark of their season, and Dailey is wanting to see more consistency from his team.
"The next step is to put together a strong weekend and not just be satisfied with one win," said Dailey.
"Today, it's disappointing. It's different if we played hard and we lost a tight one. But to not even show up, that's frustrating."
