THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Home Events – Friday
Women’s Volleyball vs. Saskatchewan, 6:00 (CKHS)
Women’s Hockey vs. Manitoba, 7:00 PM (The Co-operators Centre)

Home Events – Saturday
Women’s Hockey vs. Manitoba, 3:00 PM (The Co-operators Centre)
Women’s Volleyball vs. Saskatchewan, 6:00 (CKHS)

Away Events – Friday
Women’s Basketball – at Manitoba, 6:00 PM (Winnipeg, Man.)
Men’s Hockey – at Manitoba, 7:00 PM (Winnipeg, Man.)
Men’s Basketball – at Manitoba, 8:00 PM (Winnipeg, Man.)

Away Events – Saturday
Men’s Hockey – at Manitoba, 2:00 PM (Winnipeg, Man.)
Women’s Basketball – at Manitoba, 5:00 PM (Winnipeg, Man.)
Men’s Basketball – at Manitoba, 7:00 PM (Winnipeg, Man.)

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars kept rolling last weekend, collecting 2-1 and 2-0 home victories over Mount Royal to stretch their winning streak to six games. The squad has registered 17 of a possible 18 points in January, and over that time span the Cougars have vaulted all the way into fourth place in the Canada West standings. The U of R is back home at The Co-operators Centre this weekend to host Manitoba on Friday night (7:00) and Saturday afternoon (3:00).

Women’s Volleyball – After a weekend off from Canada West play, the Cougars are back at it this weekend with a pair of home matches against the Saskatchewan Huskies. The teams will meet at 6:00 PM on both Friday and Saturday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars battled back from a 3-0 deficit on Friday against Mount Royal before eventually falling 4-3 in double overtime, then lost 6-1 to MRU on Saturday. With nine out of a 12 possible points so far since the December break, the Cougars have jumped back into the Canada West postseason conversation but need wins this weekend at Manitoba as they come into Friday’s game three points back of UBC for the final playoff berth with six games to go. After this weekend’s two road games against the Bisons, Regina closes out the conference schedule with two home games against Alberta and a home-and-home with Saskatchewan.

Men’s Basketball – Coming off their bye week which followed a pair of home wins over Brandon, the Cougars (7-7) are currently ninth in the Canada West standings with just three weekends remaining in conference play. The U of R will travel east for a pair of games at Manitoba this weekend before finishing off the Canada West slate at home against UNBC and on the road at Fraser Valley.

Women’s Basketball – The Cougars (6-8) enter the weekend 11th in the conference in winning percentage, but have the eighth best RPI in Canada West as they’ve played one of the tougher schedules to this point. The U of R will play a team similar in both record and RPI this Friday and Saturday, as they’ll face Manitoba (7-7) for a pair of games in Winnipeg.

Track & Field (Women’s U SPORTS Ranking: No. 6) – The Cougars had a successful outing at the Golden Bear Open over the weekend as two school records went down on the women’s side and the teams combined to hit four U SPORTS standards. Joely Welburn’s 3905 points in the pentathlon and the women’s 4×800 team’s time (9:05.02) were both school records and standards, while standards were also hit by the men’s 4×800 team (7:40.30) and Amou Madol in the high jump (1.71m). The Cougars will send a small contingent to the Knights of Columbus Games this weekend in Saskatoon.

Swimming (Men’s U SPORTS Ranking: No. 9) – Brian Palaschuk led a group of four Cougars competing at the TYR Pro Swim Series over the weekend in Nashville, finishing 13th overall in the 400 IM and 17th overall in the 200 IM. The rest of the Cougars competed at home at the Optimist Prairie Cup, with Brenan Alejado, Bree Crookshanks, and Firas Saidi all collecting two first-place finishes. The Cougars will return to competition on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 at the Colleges Cup Prairies at the Lawson Aquatic Centre.

(Braden Konschuh/UofR Athletics)