Season Preview: Griffins kick off quest for playoff spot, knowing every point matters
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Tangible lessons are engrained in their minds after back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs on the final day.
Even if you stretch back to 2021 – the last time the Griffins men's soccer team qualified for the Canada West post-season – they only got in by rallying for wins in the final two games, both on the road against previously unbeaten Calgary.
It's close, man.
Every point matters.
"You can't afford to drop points early in the season," said Griffins head coach Adam Loga, whose squad opens the 2024 Canada West season on the road this Friday at Lethbridge (4:30 p.m., Canada West TV). "Seeing is believing sometimes.
"To have that happen three years in a row … obviously, in 2021, we came out on the right side – but three years in a row, it's come down to the last game. I think seeing is believing. With a lot of returning faces, that sense of belief, rather than hearing it, is there."
MacEwan will also visit Saskatchewan on their first weekend of action – Sunday (2 p.m., Canada West TV) and know getting off to a strong start is important. Both the Pronghorns and Huskies are teams that have also been in and out of the playoff picture in recent seasons.
"We, for sure, learned that every game is important," said veteran midfielder Jakob Sievert, who is forming the team's leadership group this season along with Stewart Jamieson and Rakan Yassin. "In this conference, no matter who you play, you can beat anyone. It's important that we start collecting points early and not wait until the last weekend to make playoffs."
Follow the journey of our @MacEwanGriffins men's soccer team as they venture into the 2024 season with new team-specific social media accounts on Instagram and X.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/d7HvtHHoeO
— MacEwan Griffins Men's Soccer (@GriffinsMSOC) August 26, 2024
The Griffins finished fifth in the Prairie Division in 2023 with a 3-8-3 record, just three points back of fourth-place Calgary (4-7-3) – a team they had the tiebreaker on.
So, one win short.
The year before, the Griffins were tied with Saskatchewan for the final Prairie playoff spot at 3-7-4, but lost out in heartbreaking fashion on a deep tiebreaker (goals for/against vs. like opponents).
Other history they can lean on, though, is the fact that six of their starters from 2021 when they almost went on a Cinderella playoff run – losing in OT to No. 1 seeded Victoria – are still on the team.
"That gets overlooked even by some of the players sometimes," said Loga. "We do have six guys who started that game still on the team."
Abass Ajibade is one of six Griffins who started the team's 2021 playoff game at Victoria (Chris Lindsey photo).
Yassin, Jamieson, Sievert, Abass Ajibade, Ali Yildiz and Chance Carter all played key roles – (Yassin scored twice and Carter once) – as the Griffins nearly shocked the Vikes, tied 3-3 after regulation before running out of gas in OT and falling 6-3.
Up front, the Griffins will have to adjust to the loss of their two leading scorers from 2023 when they finished eighth in the conference in offence as Philip Masri and Antony Caceres haven't returned.
There will be more attack by committee, but the forward group still has former MacEwan Male Athlete of the Year Yassin and Canada West All-Rookie team member Kayden Dugas. It has been further bolstered by rookie Miles Frett-Baptiste, transfer Alain Sitchet and possibly by talented first-year local Sacre Musa, who remains on trial with Portuguese U19 first division side Torrense.
Going into his final season, Rakan (Ricky) Yassin will anchor the Griffins' forward group that will try to adjust to the losses of top scorers Phil Masri and Antony Caceres (Eduardo Perez photo).
"We definitely know we have some shoes to fill in terms of where we're going to find our goals this year," said Loga.
"We've moved some guys around that have maybe played bigger roles on other areas of the pitch. We'll have to play them further up the park. They're talented and multi-faceted, so they can do the job. I have all the faith in them to do so."
The midfield is an engine for the Griffins with many options, depending on who may be bumped up to the attack. Loga has the aforementioned three starters from 2021 – Yildiz, Sievert and Ajibade – as well as Carter, the former FC Edmonton pro who is an elite two-way player in Canada West. And don't forget about Nicolas Luczkiewicz, who had a team-leading four assists from midfield last season, matching a program record.
Jakob Sievert is in the Griffins leadership group this season (Eduardo Perez photo).
Defensively, things have been shored up significantly from last season when a series of circumstances – injuries and eligibility – led to the Griffins playing the 2023 season without a true centre back on the roster. Loga added rookie centre backs Liam Van Laar, Philip Wutzl, and Djordje Drljevic, although the latter is still in Serbia and is unlikely to be available to the team early. The position group will also have former FC Edmonton pro T-Boy Fayia, who wasn't eligible until late last season, right out of the gate.
"I think bringing in some centre backs and bolstering our goalkeeper position as well – adding some depth – is really going to help," said Loga. "To find out August 18 last year you have no centre backs was a bit of a punch in the gut for us. So, to have true centre backs who understand and know the position as well as they do, that will definitely help in all phases."
The Griffins are looking forward to a full season from top defender T-boy Fayia, who previously played pro for FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League (Jefferson Hagen photo).
The Griffins return goalkeepers David Sithole and Kaleb Lutz, adding veteran Ukrainian Oleksandr Popravka to push for starts.
"A ton of experience," said Loga of the keeper, who previously played for Edmonton Scottish and originally moved to Canada to play semi-pro in Ontario. "Starting or not, he's going to help the young keepers. Davey and Kaleb are 04-05 born, respectively. He's further up there in age – 27 or 28 – so he has a lot of experience he can lend. He's going to definitely help them and mentor them."
Veteran Ukrainian Oleksandr Popravka will bolster the Griffins' goalkeeper position (Jefferson Hagen photo).
The Griffins will have the aforementioned two road games under their belts before their home opening weekend, set for Sept. 7-8 vs. Mount Royal and Calgary, respectively (both noon, Edmonton Scottish, Canada West TV).
"I think playoffs is always the goal," said Loga. "I think we were a bit hard done by, as mentioned earlier, to not be three-for-three out of COVID. Everyone who's been around us since have felt we've been a bit unlucky to come up short the last two years.
"I think playoffs is always the goal and then, from there, it's just one game. It's 90 minutes to maybe go on a bit of a run. (Our mentality) is just get ourselves into the playoffs and see what happens."
