Red Deer College Queens came up short in their effort to grab a spot in the finals of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference Women’s Hockey finals.

A 1-0 loss to the MacEwan Griffins eliminated the Queens from the playoffs, putting an end to their season.

In the best-of-three series, the Queens managed just three goals, all coming in their Game 1 win.

Queens Head Coach Kelly Coulter said he would have liked to see the Queens score more goals, but gives a lot of credit to the Griffins.

“It was the wrong time to dry up on offence, but again our hats are off to MacEwan and best of luck in the final,” said Coulter.

It wasn’t from a lack of effort as both teams competed hard. Queens captain Julia Murrell was the first person to recognize the hard work.

“It wasn’t the result we wanted, but every single girl gave a 100 per cent effort and that’s all we can ask for,” said Murrell.

“Everybody stepped up and played the best they could.”

With Game 1 needing double overtime followed by triple overtime in Game 3, it would be easy to understand if both teams were tired, but if they were, they did a great job of hiding it.

“You’re just so hyped to play and you’re not really thinking about how tired you are. We trained all season for this and everyone came ready to play,” said Murrell.

Murrell is one of four graduates on the team who need to make a decision on whether to return for another season.

The Griffins will face the SAIT Trojans in the finals.