THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Women’s Soccer – The Cougars (5-6-3) finished the Canada West schedule with a pair of road wins last weekend, including a 5-1 victory over Thompson Rivers that featured a Sydney Langen hat trick and a tight 1-0 win over UBC Okanagan the next day. The strong performance locked down fourth place in the Prairie Division standings and a playoff berth for the Cougars, who will make the short trip north to the University of Saskatchewan to take on the Huskies on Saturday at noon. The winner of that match will move on to the Canada West Final Six, to be hosted by a Pacific Division team.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars (1-3-0) host Saskatchewan this Friday night (7:00) at The Co-operators Centre in the team’s annual game in support of the Shine On Foundation, which was created to help financially support mothers with an advanced cancer diagnosis. All proceeds from the 50/50 at the game and the sale of 22Fresh Cougar sweatshirts will go to the Foundation, and the University of Regina Students’ Union will also select a contestant to shoot for free tuition during the second intermission. The teams finish off the two-game weekend set in Saskatoon on Saturday.

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars start out the Canada West schedule this weekend with a pair of home matches against the top-ranked team in the nation, as No. 1 Trinity Western is in town to open up the conference slate. The two teams will play on Friday night (6:00) and Saturday night (5:00) at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

Men’s Volleyball – With 10 newcomers on the roster, the new-look Cougars take to the home court for the first time this season with a pair of home matches against No. 2-ranked Trinity Western. The U of R and the Spartans are scheduled to start on Friday at 8 p.m. and on Saturday at 7 p.m. following the conclusion of the women’s matches on both nights.

Women’s Hockey – The Cougars (2-3-1-0) lost twice to Manitoba last weekend in Winnipeg and are now tied with Alberta for fourth place in the Canada West standings through the first three weekends of the Canada West schedule. The U of R is right back in action with a home-and-home against No. 9-ranked Saskatchewan, as the two teams will square off in Saskatoon on Friday night before finishing off the weekend set at The Co-operators Centre in Regina on Saturday night (7:00).

Rams Football (U Sports Ranking: No. 7) – The Rams (5-2) scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to come up with a 35-33 win over UBC on Friday at Mosaic Stadium, ensuring a top-two finish for the U of R and a home date in the first round of the postseason. The Rams finish off the conference schedule this Saturday night (8:00 CDT) at Manitoba, needing a win to lock up first place in the Canada West standings for the first time in program history.

Women’s Basketball – The Cougars continued their torrid start to the 2016-17 season with three more non-conference wins in Edmonton this weekend. They defeated Toronto, Lakehead, and tournament host Alberta to improve to 10-0 this year despite not having the services of Sara Hubenig, Michaela Kleisinger, Charlotte Kot, and Katie Polischuk – those four were off in Xiamen, China representing the U of R and the CIS at the 3×3 FISU World League final. They won a silver medal at the event, which featured 12 university teams from around the globe. Back to a full roster, the Cougars continue their non-conference schedule in Victoria, B.C. this weekend with games against Fraser Valley and UBC.

Men’s Basketball – The Cougars have now won three of their past four games after going 2-1 at the RBC Classic hosted by Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont. The U of R started out the tournament with wins over Guelph and UQAM before losing to a powerful Ryerson squad on Sunday. The Cougars close out their non-conference schedule in Lethbridge this weekend, as they face the Pronghorns on Friday night and Alberta on Saturday afternoon.

Cross Country – After sending a partial squad to the Saskatchewan Age Class Championships in Yorkton last Saturday, the Cougars will enter full teams on both the men’s and the women’s side in the Stewart Cup this Saturday in Calgary. Considered a final tune-up to the upcoming U Sports Championships, the meet will be held at Canmore Park near the University of Calgary campus.

Men’s and Women’s Wrestling – The Cougars open their 2016-17 schedule in Calgary this weekend. The women’s team will square off with the Dinos in a Friday-night dual, then both teams will compete in the Dino Open on Saturday. The teams will have the next two weekends off before competing in the Cougar Invitational (Regina) and the Huskie Invitational (Saskatoon) in November.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh)