THIS WEEK IN COUGAR ATHLETICS

Women’s Basketball (CIS Ranking: No. 6) – The Cougars won all three games at last weekend’s tournament at the University of Manitoba, beating the host Bisons, Lakehead, and Winnipeg to end up with a 7-2 record in their nine non-conference games. The U of R hosts its Canada West home openers at the CKHS this weekend, as the Cougars have UBC in town on Friday night (6:15) and play Victoria on Saturday night (5:00).

Women’s Hockey (CIS Ranking: No. 7) – The Cougars (6-2-0) collected their second consecutive weekend split at The Co-operators Centre over the weekend, winning 2-0 on Friday over Mount Royal but falling 4-3 on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars have four wins in four games away from Regina so far this season and put that perfect record on the line on Saturday night (7:00) and Sunday afternoon (3:00) at Manitoba.

Women’s Volleyball – The Cougars (0-2) lost their first two matches of the Canada West schedule after a five-set setback to No. 5-ranked Brandon on Friday and a four-set loss to the Bobcats on Saturday. The losses overshadowed a fine weekend by fourth-year middle Michelle Sweeting, who hit for a team-high .412 percentage in the two matches. The Cougars are back at it this weekend with Saturday and Sunday afternoon road matches at Winnipeg, which opened its season last weekend with a pair of losses to Manitoba.

Men’s Volleyball – Last weekend marked the first matches of the conference schedule for the Cougars (0-2), who lost in four sets to No. 4 Brandon on Friday and in straight sets on Saturday. It’s right back on the road for the U of R this weekend, as the Cougars will square off with Winnipeg (1-1) this Saturday and Sunday at the Duckworth Centre on the U of W campus. All four men’s and women’s volleyball matches will be available via live webcast on canadawest.tv.

Men’s Hockey – The Cougars moved to 4-4-0 on the season after a road split at Mount Royal, winning 5-1 on Friday before losing 5-2 on Saturday. Brody Luhning had three assists for the U of R over the two-game set and the rookie defenceman now leads all CIS blueliners with eight helpers this year. The Cougars will have a weekend off before returning to action on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9 with a home series against Manitoba.

Men’s & Women’s Wrestling – The men’s and women’s teams had their first competitive event of the year last weekend as both squads wrestled at the Dinos Invitational in Calgary. Danielle Anderson led the women’s team with a first-place finish at 59 kg, while Jacob Luczak’s second-place showing at 82 kg was the men’s team’s top finish. The women’s team returns to the mats at the SFU International Open this weekend in Burnaby, B.C.
Cross Country – After two weekends off, the Cougars return to action this Saturday at the Stewart Cup in Edmonton. The race will mark the final event for the school’s cross country teams before the CIS Championships, which will be held in London, Ont. on Nov. 9.

Women’s Soccer – A long goal by Molly Glass brought the Cougars to within one goal midway through the second half, but they eventually lost 5-1 to No. 1-seeded Victoria on Friday night in the Canada West quarterfinals. The loss ends the season for the Cougars, who qualified for the postseason for the second consecutive year after finishing with a 5-5-2 record through the conference schedule.

Rams Football – The Rams ended their season with a turnover-plagued 33-15 loss to the University of Saskatchewan on Saturday afternoon at Mosaic Stadium, as they finish fifth in the Canada West standings with a 2-6 record and out of the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The game marked the final time in a U of R uniform for five fifth-year Rams, including Brady Aulie, Logan Brooks, Mark McConkey, Kolten Solomon, and Taylor Wandler.

(Courtesy Braden Konschuh)