U of R Highlights

Minor miracles took place on the ice and field

Autumn McDowell
Sports Editor

Rams football

Almost no one could have predicted this, but the Regina Rams handed the powerhouse University of Calgary Dinos their first loss of the season by a score of 12-9 on Friday, Oct. 16 at Mosaic Stadium.

With veteran quarterback, Marc Mueller, still watching from the sidelines with a nagging shoulder injury, converted slotback Zach Olynik was in at shotgun for his second start of the season. However, it wasn’t the quarterbacking that was the story, it was the defence.

The low-scoring affair highlighted the Rams defensive game, which included two interceptions, one sack, one fumble recovery and countless stops to make the Dinos time on the field a hellish nightmare.

With the win, the Rams have clinched second place in Canada West and will have a home playoff game, but first they have to close out the regular season by taking on the always-crappy Alberta Golden Bears this Friday at home. The Golden Bears are 0-6 in case anyone was curious. The massacre begins at 7p.m.

Quick hits: Joey Dwyer was named the Canada West defensive player of the week while Jamier Walker earned the honor for special teams.

Men’s hockey

After their series split with the Calgary Dinos last weekend, the men’s hockey team has already nearly matched their wins total from last season and currently sit tied for third place in Canada West.

The weekend series was highlighted by a shutout victory for second year goalie Andrew Hayes on night one, pushing the Cougars win streak to four – something that would have been unheard of last year.

Second year forward, Troy Hunter, still has the hot stick for the Cougars, as he added a goal and an assist over the weekend to push his point total to 10 in six games. Not only is that good enough for third place in the Canada West scoring race, its 10 times the amount of points he had all of last season.

The Cougars will be back in action at home Friday night when Mount Royal (1-5) is in town. Regina might as well chalk up two more in the win column right now.

Quick hits: After the impressive weekend, Hayes is now the No. 3 goalie in Canada West, and posts a 3-0 record, a .930 save percentage, and a 2.21 goals against average.

Women’s hockey

The Cougars women’s hockey team put an end to the Calgary Dinos 22 game win streak on Oct. 17 in hostile territory.

Although the Cougars fell to the Dinos 3-0 on night No. 1, that loss was quickly forgotten about and the only important thing from the weekend is their 4-3 overtime victory on night No. 2.

Cougars scoring sensation Paige Wheeler gets the credit for the overtime goal – obviously, the only goal that matters – while second year tender Jennifer Schmidt stopped 44 out of 47 shots to earn herself the W.

Let’s be honest, I know I’m stating the obvious here but the only reason Calgary is any good is because of Hayley Wickenheiser, but the Cougars were able to hold her to just four assists and zero goals in two games. She only has two goals in six games this season and doesn’t even lead the league in scoring. Basically, she sucks now.

The Cougars continue their road swing as they take on Mount Royal (3-2-1) this weekend.

Quick hits: Second year forward Stephanie Sawchuk had a three-point night on Saturday, bringing her season point total to five points in six games, thus matching the point total she had in 24 games last season.