Heartbreaking late goals turn potential win into tough 3-2 loss for Griffins
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
|
|
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Team Stats
Trinity Western
| Game Statistics | MacEwan University | Trinity Western |
|---|---|---|
| PowerPlays | 0 for 4 | 1 for 4 |
| Shorthanded Goals | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties (min) | 4 (8) | 4 (8) |
| Shots on Goal | 23 | 42 |
| Face Offs Won | 0 | 0 |
Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
LANGLEY, B.C. – In a heartbreaking finish, the MacEwan Griffins saw a 2-1 lead evaporate into a 3-2 loss after conceding two goals in the final minute against the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday afternoon.
The tying goal came off a favourable bounce on a broken play during a Spartans' powerplay with 59 seconds remaining when the puck caromed off a skate in front and was chipped over Taya Currie by Chloe Reid.
Just 38 seconds later, with only 21 ticks remaining in the contest, Trinity Western's Kara Yackel ripped the winning goal past Currie on an odd-man rush.
"We struggled to get the puck out of our own zone this weekend and that kind of happened when we took the penalty and gave them the 5-on-4 where they scored to tie it up," said Griffins head coach Chris Leeming. "Then we got caught without our defensive structure in the O-zone. They got an odd-man rush and scored off the rush.
"It was a little bit of a disappointing outcome."
With the result, MacEwan falls to 4-14-2, while Trinity Western improves to 10-9-1, passing idle Alberta (7-6-5) for second place in the West Division.
While the outcome was disappointing for the Griffins, there was a lot to like from their game, which showed big improvement over Friday's lacklustre 4-1 defeat to TWU.
"I thought we had a much better game overall than yesterday," said Leeming. "Taya had a good game in net for us, as well. We had a slow first period, but we had a solid second period, got 14 shots and started to get some pucks on net."
And that's when MacEwan took over the contest. They trailed 1-0 early off a TWU tally by Kyra Anderson, but tied the game just 3:08 into the second when Ashton Bender sniped her first of the season on a point-blank shot.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) January 10, 2026
Snipe from Ashton Bender as she nets her first of the season and first of the game for the @MacEwanGriffins to tie it up 1-1 with @TWUSpartans!#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/UKVeqUeVQh
Then, the Griffins took their first lead of the weekend when Claire Hobbs sent a great pass over to Megan Dolynchuk, who was robbed by Spartans goaltender Olivia Davidson, but the puck spilled to the corner. That's when Sydney Jack zipped a cross crease pass to Dolynchuk, who smartly parked at the net front and she chipped it under the bar for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
GOAL��
— MacEwan Griffins Women's Hockey (@GriffinsWHKY) January 10, 2026
Megan Dolynchuk gives the @MacEwanGriffins a 2-1 lead over @TWUSpartans after 40 with her fourth of the season, chipping home a centering pass!
She's now just one goal shy of the program's rookie single season @CanadaWest record.#GriffNation pic.twitter.com/y04CbYaYPO
She's now just one back of the program's rookie record, set by Maria Ayre in 2023-24.
"We had a little bit of a slow start, but we built some momentum for ourselves doing the simple things that we talked about – focusing on our habits, energy and execution," said Leeming. "We started to see some good stuff from our group. It was trending in the right direction.
"The other team did what they do well and put pressure on us, and made life difficult. At the end of the day, they won both games because of that. They were the better team overall for 120 minutes."
Leeming pointed to veterans Robyn Short, Kori Paterson and Allee Isley as having strong weekends for the squad.
Currie finished with 39 saves. Davidson stopped 21 for TWU.
MacEwan heads into a bye week before their next action, which is back on the road at Manitoba Jan. 23-24.
