THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS
Rams Football (CIS Ranking – No. 4) – The Rams (3-1) earned a 32-27 win over the previously unbeaten Calgary Dinos last Friday, a victory that was sealed by Joey Dwyer’s forced fumble on the one-yard line with only seconds to go. Dwyer was named the Canada West Defensive Player of the Week, while Mitchell Picton caught 13 passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns to earn CIS and Canada West Offensive Player of the Week honours. The Rams will now host Saskatchewan (2-2) on Saturday in the SaskTel Fall Classic, the first game at the new Mosaic Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. (Access/Shaw, 620 CKRM, www.canadawest.tv).
Women’s Soccer – The Cougars (1-3-2) are back at home to play host to the Lethbridge Pronghorns and No. 3-ranked Calgary Dinos on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Match time is 11 a.m. on Saturday, but kickoff returns to its usual 12 p.m. time for Sunday’s game against the Dinos. The Cougars are coming off a pair of tight 1-0 losses to Mount Royal and MacEwan last weekend.
Women’s Hockey – The Cougars finished 3-0 at the Mandi Schwartz Challenge on the weekend, defeating Team Saskatchewan 2-0, the University of Saskatchewan by a 4-3 score, and the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns by a 3-2 margin. Winners of all seven of their preseason games so far, the Cougars will skate against an alumni team this Friday night (7:00) at The Co-operators Centre.
Men’s Hockey – The Cougars lost a pair of non-conference games to the hometown Manitoba Bisons on the weekend, falling by scores of 7-2 and 3-0. The team will travel south for two games against NCAA Div. I opposition to close out its non-conference schedule, as they’ll play Minnesota State on Saturday night and St. Cloud State on Sunday night (www.nchc.tv). Both games face off at 7:07 p.m. (CDT).
Men’s Basketball – The first action of the non-conference schedule for the Cougars is this weekend at the Guy Vetrie Memorial Tournament in Victoria, B.C. The team starts out the tournament on Thursday night (8:00 PDT) against host Victoria, then is scheduled to meet McMaster on Friday night (6:00 PDT) and McGill on Saturday night (5:00 PDT).
Women’s Basketball – The Cougars opened the season last Friday with a 97-47 exhibition win over the visiting Lakeland College Rustlers. Katie Polischuk led the Cougars with 22 points on 5-of-7 three-point shooting, while Charlotte Kot (18), Michaela Kleisinger (11) and Kyanna Giles (10) also scored in double figures. The Cougars travel to face Brandon and Manitoba in non-conference games on Thursday and Friday.
Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars opened non-conference play at home last weekend with the four-team Cougar Invitational, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to defeat Manitoba in five sets in their first match. The team suffered a pair of three-set losses in their next matches against Alberta and Brandon, and now head to Winnipeg this weekend for the Unruh Realty Invitational.
Men’s Volleyball – The Cougars will hit the court for the first time in 2016-17 this weekend, heading to Brandon to take part in a five-team non-conference tournament. They’ll play Winnipeg and host Brandon on Friday, The King’s University and Sherbrooke on Saturday, and will rematch with one of those four teams in a Sunday playoff match.
Cross Country – The Cougars make the short trip north on Saturday for the University of Saskatchewan Open, their second event of the 2016 schedule. Races begin at 12 p.m. at Douglas Park near downtown Saskatoon. Following this weekend, the Cougars have the Western Washington Classic, the Saskatchewan Age Class Championships, and the Stewart Cup as tune-ups for the 2016 CIS Cross Country Championships in November in Quebec City.
(Courtesy Braden Konschuh)
