THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars edged Saskatchewan 3-2 in Kindersley on Saturday to finish the non-conference schedule with a 3-1 record against CIS competition. The team now turns its attention to the Canada West season, which starts this weekend at The Co-operators Centre as the Cougars host Manitoba. Friday’s game is a 7 p.m. start time, while Saturday’s matinee faces off at 3 p.m.

Men’s Volleyball – After starting non-conference play last week with four matches at a tournament hosted by Mount Royal, the Cougars will host their own non-conference tournament this weekend at the CKHS. The U of R will meet Manitoba, MacEwan, Brandon, and Winnipeg over the course of the three-day event, which starts Friday and wraps up on Sunday. Visit the men’s volleyball section at www.reginacougars.com for a full tournament schedule.

Rams Football – The Rams (1-3) lost another tight Canada West game last Saturday at Mosaic Stadium, falling 21-16 to the No. 7-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies after their potential game-winning drive was cut short by an interception in the end zone. The Rams – who have lost their last two games by a total of just seven points – will take a crack at No. 2-ranked Calgary (3-1) this Saturday at McMahon Stadium in Calgary. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (620 CKRM).

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars (0-2-0) opened up their Canada West schedule last weekend with a home-and-home against Saskatchewan, falling 2-0 to the Huskies in Saskatoon on Friday before dropping a 4-2 decision at home on Saturday. The Cougars took the lead with goals from Tyler Penny and John Sonntag in the opening three minutes of the second on Saturday, but couldn’t hang on as Saskatchewan scored the final three goals of the game to secure the win. The Cougars hit the road for the first time in conference play this weekend with games at Manitoba on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

Women’s Soccer – The Cougars (4-2-2) vaulted into second place in the Prairie Division after taking four out of a possible six points from No. 8-ranked and previously undefeated Calgary over the weekend at the U of R Field. The teams battled to a 1-1 draw on Saturday before the Cougars took a 1-0 victory on Sunday thanks to a goal from the penalty spot by striker Veronica Boesch and Kacey McFee’s third shutout of the season. The team has a weekend off before returning to action on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12 at home against MacEwan.

Cross Country (Men’s CIS Ranking: No. 9) – Matt Johnson won the Div. II race at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis last Saturday, finishing in first place out of a total of 409 runners with an 8K time of 25:32 to help the men’s team to a sixth-place finish in the team standings. The women’s team also had a strong outing, with Jesse Van Eaton and rookie Brynn Latimer leading the Cougars to an eighth-place showing out of 33 teams at the Griak. Both teams will compete in the University of Saskatchewan Open this Saturday in Saskatoon.

Women’s Volleyball – The non-conference schedule started at home last weekend for the Cougars, who hosted the University of Regina Invitational at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport. The Cougars finished the tournament with a 2-2 record, with both of their wins in three-set victories over MacEwan and Manitoba on Day 1. The team will travel to Vancouver this weekend for the West Coast Invitational, where they’ll take on UBC (Thursday), Alberta (Friday), York (Saturday), and Trinity Western (Sunday) as the non-conference schedule continues.

Women’s Basketball – The Cougars split their two non-conference games in Calgary last weekend, defeating Mount Royal 81-40 on Friday before being clipped 63-60 by Calgary on Saturday. Katie Polischuk led the team with 18 points in the win over Mount Royal, while Alyssia Kajati piled up 29 points in the Calgary loss. The Cougars will square off against Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Brandon this weekend in a non-conference tournament hosted by Brandon.

(Courtesy of Braden Konschuh)