Paige Colby was named player of the game for the Griffins after scoring and playing terrific in midfield (Adrien Bazinet photo).
Paige Colby was named player of the game for the Griffins after scoring and playing terrific in midfield (Adrien Bazinet photo).
October 13, 2024

Griffins' huge first-half response leads them to 4-2 victory over Pandas

Box Score

Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – The response was a whirlwind.

A day after giving up a late goal that turned a win into a tie against cross-town rival Alberta, the MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team scored three times in the first half, en route to a 4-2 victory over the Pandas at Foote Field.

"I knew it would leave a bad taste in everybody's mouth," said head coach Dean Cordeiro. "To go onto their home pitch today and get out to a 3-0 lead in the first half, you couldn't ask for a better start."

Sophie Lavallee scored twice, and Hannah Harper had two assists to match a program record with eight on the season, as the Griffins improved to 9-1-2 and kept alive their hopes of catching the Calgary Dinos (10-1-1) for top spot in the Prairie Division.

The Griffins' final two games of the regular season are at Lethbridge Oct. 19 and at Calgary Oct. 20.

Lavallee opened the scoring in the 19th minute as Brynn Hobal rushed up the right wing and sent in a cross that she hammered top bins.

Paige Colby made it 2-0 in the 27th minute, taking a Harper through ball, shaking a defender and sniping it with a super left-footed strike.

"We thought she was brilliant," said Cordeiro of Colby, who was named player of the game. "She had her hands full with Makenna Van der Veen, a very good player for them in midfield. Paige just locked it down for us. I don't think she lost a 50-50 ball, she won everything. Her distribution was next level, the attention to detail – to see that from a first-year is incredible. "Then on the second goal of the game, she made a darting run and Harper found her – a left foot finish, just so tidy. Very, very happy with Paige Colby. She stepped up big today."

Lavallee nailed the inside of the post in the 32nd, but it stayed out.

But the Griffins went up 3-0 in the 45th minute as Ella Fownes, wind-aided midfield free kick, bounded through the box untouched and in past Alberta keeper Autumn Wynn.

Alberta got one back on a PK scored by Wanda Czebreszuk right before the half.

But the Griffins put the game out of reach in the 80th minute when Lavallee scored her second of the game. Harper found her in the right of the box, she turned and slotted it through Wynn's legs. An Alberta defender tried to clear it off the line, but deflected it into the net instead.

"She's really stepped up," said Cordeiro of Lavallee, who now has eight goals on the season, tied for second most by a Griffin in a Canada West season. "It's not just the goal scoring ability that she has. It's a bonus that she has in her arsenal. It's the work she does away from the ball. I think we subbed her out in the 87thminute, but she ran for the whole time she was out there -back-pressing, counter-pressing, putting pressure on, sticking tackles, winning aerial balls. Complete performance and she's turning into a complete player. 

"It's hard for us to take her off the pitch with the way she's playing in all areas of the game right now."

On the play, Harper notched her eighth assist of the season, which match Suekiana Choucair's program record for the most in a Canada West campaign.

"What a second season for her," said Cordeiro. "She's really found her way. The crazy thing about the numbers she's putting up – because going into the weekend she was leading the conference in scoring – is she's doing it from midfield. The conference leading scorers are always forwards. To have a midfielder who's able to put up that kind of production is truly remarkable. Not to mention, she's relied on heavily with her matchups defensively, winning aerial battles. She's really coming into her own."

Former Griffins Mimi Vignjevic scored a PK for Alberta in the 90th minute to salt away the final result.

Both Sabrina Alexander and Wynn made five saves each for their respective teams.