THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Rams Football – The Rams (1-5) suffered a heartbreaking loss at UBC on Saturday, taking a one-point lead on the first play of the fourth but surrendering a pair of rouges – including with two minutes remaining – in the final quarter to lose 33-32. The Rams now need to win both of their remaining games to make the postseason and will also require some help on the out-of-town scoreboard. Fortunately for the Rams, both of their final games are at home – beginning with Saturday’s Week 7 matchup against Manitoba at Mosaic Stadium (2 p.m.).

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars (0-2) started out their conference season on the road last weekend with a three-set loss to Manitoba on Friday and a four-set loss to the Bisons on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars will now prepare for their Canada West home openers this weekend at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport, as they’ll host Winnipeg (3-1) on Friday (6:00 p.m.) and Saturday (5:00 p.m.).

Men’s Volleyball – After opening up Canada West play with a pair of road losses to Manitoba, the Cougars (0-2) will play their first home conference matches of the season this Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (6:30 p.m.) against Winnipeg (3-1). The men’s matches will follow the conclusion of the women’s matches both nights.

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars (1-2-2-1) recorded their third consecutive weekend split on Friday and Saturday, losing 5-3 to No. 10 Calgary in the first game of the two-game set before Emma Waldenberger’s successful attempt in the first round of the shootout stood as the only goal of the game in a 1-0 U of R win on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars are back in action this weekend with a pair of road games at No. 5 UBC (3-1-1-1).

Men’s Basketball – The Cougars won two of their three games on their road swing against NAIA opposition last weekend, starting out with a 69-63 win over Dickinson State on Friday. They were then edged 79-71 by Mayville State before finishing the trip with a strong effort in an 82-63 victory over Jamestown on Sunday. The Cougars are back at it this weekend with a trip to Ontario for a non-conference tournament hosted by Brock that will see them play York, Windsor, and the host Badgers.

Cross Country (Men’s CIS Ranking: No. 9) – Now entering the stretch run of the 2014 schedule, the men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to Calgary this Saturday to run in the Stewart Cup. It’ll be the final race for both Cougar teams before the 2014 CIS Championships, which will be hosted on Nov. 8 by Memorial University in St. John’s, N.L.

Wrestling – The Cougars have their first meet of the 2014-15 season this weekend, as the men’s and the women’s teams will make the trip west to participate in the Dinos Invitational at the University of Calgary. It’s the first of three consecutive weekends of competition for the women’s team, with the Cougars also to compete in the Clan International on Nov. 1 and the Wesmen Invitational on Nov. 8.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars (0-8-0) lost twice at Calgary last weekend, falling 5-0 on Saturday before having their comeback fall just short in a 3-2 loss on Saturday that saw them come back from a three-goal deficit with third-period goals by Austin Bourhis and Cody Fowlie. The Cougars will have this weekend off to regroup before returning to action on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at home against UBC.

Women’s Basketball – The Cougars went 2-1 at a non-conference tournament hosted by McGill over the weekend, defeating both Toronto and Lakehead but losing to the host Martlets. Alyssia Kajati led the Cougars in scoring all three games, piling up 23 on Friday, 14 on Saturday, and 21 on Sunday. The Cougars finish non-conference play with an 8-3 record against CIS competition and will have a weekend off before travelling to Victoria to begin Canada West play on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1.

Women’s Soccer – The Cougars (5-5-2) were eliminated from postseason contention after 3-0 and 3-1 road losses to Saskatchewan on Saturday and Sunday. The matches are the final of the 2014 season for the Cougars, who finish in fifth place in the Prairie Division with 17 points and will graduate fifth-year players Molly Glass, Melanie King, and Jayde McFee.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh)