THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Home Canada West Events
Women’s Hockey – vs. Lethbridge, Friday (7:00 p.m.) at The Co-operators Centre
Women’s Hockey – vs. Lethbridge, Saturday (7:00 p.m.) at The Co-operators Centre

Away Canada West Events
Men’s Hockey – at Lethbridge, Friday (7:00 p.m. MST) in Lethbridge, Alta.
Men’s Hockey – at Lethbridge, Saturday (7:00 p.m. MST) in Lethbridge, Alta.

Away Non-Conference Events
Men’s Volleyball – at Enns & Baxter Tournament, Thursday to Saturday in Saskatoon, Sask.
Women’s Volleyball – at New Year’s Classic, Friday to Sunday in Edmonton, Alta.
Men’s and Women’s Wrestling – at Golden Bear Open, Friday and Saturday in Edmonton, Alta.

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars finished with a 1-2-0 record last weekend at the Martlet Invitational in Montreal, defeating Moncton but losing to Western and host McGill. They’ll now turn their attention back to the Canada West schedule, as the fifth-place Cougars (9-6-1) host Lethbridge (5-8-3) on Friday and Saturday at The Co-operators Centre. Both games will face off at 7 p.m.

Men’s Hockey – The second half of the Canada West schedule starts on the road this weekend for the fourth-place Cougars (8-8-0), who are just one point behind third-place Saskatchewan and one point ahead of Manitoba in the tightly packed conference standings. The Cougars face the University of Lethbridge (1-14-1) on both Friday and Saturday at the Nicholas Sheran Ice Centre in Lethbridge. Game time is set for 7 p.m. both nights (canadawest.tv).

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars return to action this weekend at the New Year’s Classic non-conference tournament hosted by the University of Alberta. They’ll take on the host Pandas, Toronto, and Mount Royal at the three-day event before returning to the Canada West schedule on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 at home against Alberta.

Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars will play four non-conference matches at the Enns & Baxter Tournament in Saskatoon starting on Thursday night against Brandon. They’ll also take on host Saskatchewan and Sherbrooke on Friday before finishing off with a match on Saturday morning. The Canada West schedule resumes on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12 against the University of Alberta in the friendly confines of the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Men’s and Women’s Wrestling – The Cougars will travel to Edmonton to wrestle in the Golden Bear Invitational on Friday and Saturday. It’ll be a busy month as both teams have three tournaments on the schedule and the men’s team also has duals against Dickinson State (Jan. 17) and Minot State (Jan. 23). Both teams will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Cougar Open in Regina.

Women’s Basketball (CIS Ranking: No. 5) – The Cougars won all three games last weekend at the Frontier Conference Shootout in Las Vegas, defeating Montana State-Northern, MidAmerica Nazarene, and Lewis-Clark State College to record a 3-0 record at the tournament for the second consecutive year. The Cougars have this weekend off before returning to conference play with a rare Thursday/Friday home weekend against Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10.

Men’s Basketball – The Cougars ended up in fourth place at the 2013 Wesmen Classic last weekend, starting out the non-conference tournament with an 83-79 win over Dickinson State before losing to No. 2 Ottawa in the semifinals and dropping an 89-82 decision to Manitoba in the third-place game. The Cougars will prepare for home games against Thompson Rivers and UBC Okanagan on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10 as the Canada West schedule resumes.


(Courtesy Braden Konschuk/U of R Athletics)