Posted: Sep 18, 2016
Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON — The MacEwan Griffins women's soccer team likely deserved a better fate on Sunday, but the Calgary Dinos will march back home with their undefeated record still intact after a 1-0 triumph at Jasper Place Bowl.
Playing the high-powered squad tougher than anyone has this season will go down only as a moral victory for Dean Cordeiro's troops.
"We can't be that disappointed because we left it on the pitch," said Cordeiro, whose squad carried the play while throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Dinos throughout the second half, to no avail. "We hit a post and there were a couple of great saves by the keeper. If we get one of those, it's a different story.
"In the second half we were going at them wave after wave. I credit our game changers with fresh legs going against tired legs because they didn't make a whole lot of changes. Unfortunately, today it wasn't meant to be to get on the scoresheet."
The Dinos, who entered the game with an incredible 20 goals scored in three games, all wins, had the right finish on the only play that mattered. In the 29th minute, Mollee Ramsay snuck in the back side and one-time volleyed in a beautiful cross by Taylor Dangerfield past MacEwan keeper Emily Burns, who had no chance on the play.
"If you give Mollee Ramsay an inch, she'll take a foot," said Calgary head coach Troye Flannery. "It was a great finish."
Cordeiro noted Ramsay was chief among the Dinos' threats that the MacEwan defence worked hard to shut down.
"Mollee's a class player. We need to double team her all over the pitch and we got caught ball watching and not denying the ball from a wide position," he said. "She only needed one chance today and she buried it.
"Other than that, I didn't think we gave them a lot. Maybe one other time they almost got on the end of a ball, but we kept them in front.
"We got our tactics right today to keep their powerful output of goals on the season in check today."
But, alas, the Griffins' offence couldn't cash, despite absolutely buzzing the Dinos' net in the second half.
None of their attempts came closer than when Samantha Gouveia blasted it off the right post in the 52nd minute from the top of the box.
"It could have gone either way," agreed Flannery. "Tough day, tough game. Dean has those guys extremely organized, extremely difficult to play against. MacEwan's goalkeeper is fantastic, so we're happy with the three points on the road, without doubt."
Sophia Traxler made six saves to preserve the clean sheet for the Dinos, while Burns stopped five for the Griffins.
Next up for the Griffins (1-2-1) is a pair of home dates against Saskatchewan (2-2-0) and Regina (1-1-1) Sept 24-25 (both games, 12 p.m., Jasper Place Bowl), while the Dinos (4-0-0) will welcome Winnipeg (1-2-1) and Manitoba (1-2-0) on those same dates.