THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS
Women’s Hockey – The Cougars (1-1-1-1) split on the road with No. 4 Alberta last weekend, losing 7-1 to the Pandas on Friday but recovering for a 2-1 victory on Saturday for their first regulation victory of the Canada West schedule. Tied for fourth place in the early conference standings with six points, the Cougars are at home this weekend against No. 10-ranked Calgary (3-0-0-1). The teams will play on Friday night (7:00) and Saturday afternoon (3:00).
Rams Football – After the conference’s bye week, the Rams (1-4) are back in action this Saturday with a road game at UBC that will be Canada West Football on Shaw’s featured game. Though the Rams enter Week 6 one game behind Manitoba for the final postseason spot in the conference, they have the good fortune of having UBC (1-4), Manitoba (2-3), and Alberta (3-2) on the schedule for the final three weeks of the season – all teams they’re currently battling for the last two playoff berths. Saturday’s game kicks off at 3 p.m. Saskatchewan time, live on 620 CKRM and Access7.
Women’s Soccer – Playing in their final two home games of the season last weekend, the Cougars (5-3-2) were edged 2-0 by MacEwan on Saturday before coming back with a 2-1 victory over the Griffins on Sunday. The Cougars are in fifth place in Canada West’s Prairie Division and just one point back of Saskatchewan for the fourth and final playoff berth in the division – and the two teams meet this weekend in Saskatoon, with the Cougars needing at worst a win and a draw to advance to the postseason for the third consecutive year.
Men’s Volleyball – After sitting out the first week of the Canada West schedule with a bye, the Cougars finally kick off conference play this weekend with a pair of road matches. They’ll take on Manitoba, which enters the series at 1-1 after splitting with Calgary last weekend. The Cougars and the Bisons have first serve scheduled at 8 p.m. (CDT) on Friday and 3 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday following the conclusion of the women’s match both days.
Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars kept busy during their bye week with four matches against CCAA opposition at a tournament hosted by Briercrest College, winning all four to finish their non-conference schedule with a 7-5 record. Playing their first Canada West games of the season, the Cougars will face a Manitoba (0-2) team that lost in five sets to Calgary twice last weekend. Match time is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CDT) on Friday and 1 p.m. (CDT) on Saturday.
Men’s Hockey – The Cougars played the top team in the CIS tough at home last weekend, but were defeated 2-1 by No. 1-ranked Alberta on Friday and surrendered a late pair of goals in a 5-2 loss to the Golden Bears on Saturday. The Cougars (0-6-0) will hit the road this weekend for a pair of games against No. 6-ranked Calgary (4-2-0), which moved up one spot in this week’s national poll after a home-and-home sweep over Lethbridge. Game times are 7:00 on Friday night and 6:00 on Saturday night.
Women’s Basketball – The Cougars put forth a gutsy effort to go 3-0 at their own non-conference tournament hosted at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport last weekend. They defeated Carleton 61-55 on Thursday, then followed that up with a 76-50 win over Fraser Valley and a convincing 95-69 victory over Saskatchewan – the latter two wins coming with just seven players available due to injuries. Riding a five-game winning streak, the Cougars are 6-2 against CIS competition and continue their non-conference schedule this weekend against Toronto, McGill, and Lakehead at a tournament hosted by McGill in Montreal.
Men’s Basketball – The Cougars started their non-conference schedule last weekend in Winnipeg, losing 71-59 to Winnipeg in a game played at St. Paul’s HS on Friday and falling 88-70 at Manitoba on Saturday night. The team will now prepare for their traditional three-game road swing against NAIA opposition this weekend, as the Cougars will take on Dickinson State on Friday, Mayville State on Saturday, and Jamestown on Sunday.
