THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Rams Football – A valiant fourth-quarter comeback by the Rams (1-2) fell just short last Saturday, losing 44-42 at Alberta after a failed two-point conversion in the last minute that would have tied the game. Noah Picton didn’t come in until midway through the second quarter to replace injured starting quarterback Cayman Shutter but still threw for 431 yards, while Addison Richards had nine catches for 225 yards in the setback. The Rams will play host to No. 7-ranked Saskatchewan this Saturday (2 p.m.) at Mosaic Stadium.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars host their Canada West home opener this weekend, with the University of Saskatchewan in town for a Saturday (7 p.m.) game at The Co-operators Centre. The two teams will actually begin conference play on Friday night in Saskatoon before Saturday’s game in Regina. The Cougars return 23 players from last year’s team and welcome six first-year players to the squad.

Women’s Soccer – The Cougars (3-2-1) remain in the thick of the Prairie Division playoff race after collecting four out of a possible six points last weekend at Lethbridge. The two teams tied 0-0 on Saturday, but the Cougars got a goal in the 70th minute from rookie midfielder Sarah Moroziuk on Sunday for a 1-0 victory. The Cougars are back at home this weekend with a pivotal matchup against No. 8-ranked Calgary, which comes in with a division-leading 4-0-2 record. Kickoff is set for noon on both Saturday and Sunday at the U of R Field.

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars begin their 2014-15 schedule this weekend at home, as they’ll host the University of Regina Invitational at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport. The seven-team non-conference tournament features a total of 17 matches beginning on Friday at noon with the final match on Sunday at noon. Visit the women’s volleyball page at www.reginacougars.com for a full weekend schedule.

Women’s Basketball – The Cougars started exhibition play with a pair of wins over ACAC schools, defeating Medicine Hat College 90-46 on Friday in Moose Jaw and following that up with a 90-50 victory over Lakeland College on Sunday in Regina. The team hosts CTO Amsterdam on Wednesday (4:00 p.m.) at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport before travelling to Calgary to play Mount Royal (Friday) and the University of Calgary (Saturday) in what will be the team’s first two non-conference games against CIS competition.

Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars begin their non-conference schedule with four games against CIS competition at a tournament hosted by Mount Royal. They’ll begin with a match against host Mount Royal on Thursday night before squaring off with Thompson Rivers on Friday and Calgary on Saturday morning. They’ll play for either the tournament championship or for third place on Saturday night before returning to Regina.

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars won two out of three games against CIS competition over the weekend at the Mandi Schwartz Challenge at The Co-operators Centre, defeating both York and Saskatchewan by 5-0 scores and losing to Manitoba. The U of R continues its non-conference schedule with a neutral-site game against Saskatchewan in Kindersley on Saturday before Canada West play opens up on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 at home against Manitoba.

Cross Country – The Cougars will field a full squad on both the men’s side and the women’s side this weekend at the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota. Both teams will compete in the Div. II race at the meet, which will see the women’s race first at 9:50 a.m. (CDT) before the men’s race follows at 11:30 a.m.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh/Cougar Athletics)