EDMONTON — Dominated on all areas of the field, the MacEwan Griffins slumped to a 4-0 loss Thursday at the hands of the hard-charging University of Calgary Dinos in the second contest of the new Canada West campaign for both teams.
The Griffins put forth an inconsistent effort at Foote Field that had them on their heels all night against a Dinos squad eager to rebound from a 1-0 loss to Alberta a day earlier.
Calgary (1-1-0) launched 20 shots at overworked MacEwan goalkeeper Joshua Letendre, putting eight on net. MacEwan mustered little pressure all game, rounding up a flurry in the waning minutes to record eight shots, with four on goal.
Dinos star Dominic Russo, who was the runaway goal-scoring leader in Canada West last season with an astounding 15 tallies in 12 games, was a runaway bull in the box on Thursday, constantly bearing down on MacEwan's swamped defence.
In the seventh minute, he set up the Dinos' opening tally, chipping it along the goal-line to Kieran Lane-Oppenheim for a chip-in. Then in the 31st minute, Dinos captain Dominick Zator pierced through the heart of the Griffins defence untouched before feathering a pass to Russo, who booted it past Letendre.
The Dinos continued the onslaught in the second half, maintaining sustained bouts of pressure in the MacEwan zone.
In the 72nd minute, Russo put the icing on the cake of what could be a Canada West player of the week award when he shaked and baked his defender, deked Letendre to the ground and patiently picked a spot in the middle of the twine. After a three-point night, he was subbed out for rookie Bryce Connors.
Calgary made it 4-0 in the 77th minute when Mike McKinnon sprung second-half sub Lindon Fedorick and he buried it.
MacEwan tried to make some late noise with a pair of solid chances — a Jose Cruz laser and a quick one-time strike by late sub Brian Mayall — but both were turned aside by Calgary keeper Hunter Brett, who picked up the shutout.
Next action for the MacEwan Griffins will be Sept. 9 in Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Huskies. The Dinos will be back in action on Aug. 31, hosting Saskatchewan.
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