Cougars highlights
Regina shines on the ice and court
Autumn McDowell
Sports Editor
Men’s hockey
The Cougars men’s hockey team went to war with the No. 1 team in the nation last weekend, but came up just short.
Although Regina suffered two losses to the Alberta Golden Bears, including a devastating 2-1 overtime loss on Friday, and a blowout 5-2 defeat on Saturday, the real story of the weekend was the fans.
Many of the Rams players were in the stands on Friday night to cheer on the Cougars and taunt the opposing players.
Many of the chats were directed at Alberta’s Johnny Lazo, the top scorer in Canada West.
The chant of “Laaaazzooo” filled the rink as well as one of my personal favourites: “Number 9, you’re terrible!”
The night was also highlighted by one of the fans narrowly missing out on beating a small child to a puck that flew over the boards only to have another one land near him minutes later.
Those fans made everyone’s night more enjoyable. I don’t think I have ever heard cheers like that at a Cougars hockey game and it was awesome.
Women’s hockey
The Cougars women’s hockey team brought their brooms to Edmonton last weekend.
Regina proved that they are a force to be reckoned with in Canada West this season after their weekend sweep over the No. 3 ranked University of Alberta Pandas.
Second-year goaltender Jennifer Schmidt had an extremely strong weekend in net for the Cougars, stopping 57 out of 60 shots she faced in the series, as she backstopped the Cougars to 3-2 win on Friday, and a 2-1 victory Saturday.
The Cougars also had strong performances from forwards Paige Wheeler and Brooklyn Moskowy. Wheeler finished the weekend with three assists while Moskowy added two goals on night No. 2, respectively.
With the win, the Cougars (8-4) move into a tie with Alberta for second place in Canada West.
The Cougars will take on the Manitoba Bisons (4-6-2) this Friday and Saturday at The Cooperators Centre, puck drops at 7 p.m.
Men’s volleyball
Nine games into the season and it finally happened, the men’s volleyball team picked up their first Canada West victory.
After narrowly losing a five-set marathon to the visiting University of Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday night, the Cougars were determined to leave with a W on Saturday.
The Wesmen grinded out a dirty 27-25 win over the Cougars in the first set, but that would be their only set victory of the match.
The Cougars would go on to take the next three consecutive sets (25-21, 25-19, 25-23) to secure the win.
Providing that the world doesn’t end, Cougars fans will have to wait until 2013 to see Regina in action.
The Cougars (1-7) will travel to Vancouver this weekend to take on the UBC Thunderbirds (4-4), before closing out 2012 in Kamloops.
Women’s volleyball
The Cougars women’s volleyball team is experiencing some growing pains this year.
The incredible lack of fifth-year players on the roster this year may lend itself to an explanation for their 1-7 record so far this season.
Unfortunately, two of those losses came on Nov. 16-17, when the Winnipeg Wesmen were in town.
The Cougars were only able to win two sets over the weekend, falling to the Wesmen 1-3 on both nights.
Regina will look to capture their second win of the season this weekend when they travel to Vancouver this weekend alongside the men’s team to take on the UBC Thunderbirds.
It will be a tough contest for the Cougars, as the Thunderbirds are off to a 7-1 start and are ranked second in the nation.
Photo courtesy Tenielle Bogdan
