Frigid weekend brings a small victory for the Cougars
author: nathan mccarville | sports writer
The beautiful game / Nathan McCarville
Cougars finished off with a draw and a loss at home
The Cougars soccer team played two games this weekend on their home U of R field with varying results. The first game, played on a frigid Saturday afternoon, led to a less than ideal outcome for the Cougars, losing to the Mount Royal Cougars in the first game of the weekend.
The game ended with a final score of 2-1 for the MRU Cougars. Between intermittent periods of sleet that pelted the players for a good 15 minutes of the first half of the game and rain as cold as the temperature that fluctuated between 2 to 0 degrees Celsius, one couldn’t help but wonder “at what point do they call off the game?” and by “one,” I mean myself, as I was barely able to hold the button down on the camera to document the stormy fall-season game. Though, not a single complaint could be heard from the players of either side as they played in shorts and long-sleeved t-shirts, even when the weather slowed reaction times and stiffened movements when taking a shot on goal or running after the ball dribbled by an opposing player.
MRU Cougars found the back of the net twice in the first half of the game, both goals coming from opposing Cougar Janai Martens and assisted by her teammate, Erin Holt, the duo working quick before the weather began to slow the game down. Luckily, the rain stopped in the second half of the game; unluckily, the cold persisted, and doubly unlucky, the hometown Cougars were unable to come out ahead despite the 8 shots on goal that nearly found their way past the opposing goalkeeper. After a penalty was called against the MRU Cougars, Nikita Senko scored the first and only goal of the game for the Regina Cougars.
The next game played against the University of Alberta Pandas brought a more favourable result for the Cougars, ending in a result of 0-0 for either side. Kylie Bolton blocked 4 shots on goal, one better than the game played the day before, scoring twice. Bolton’s goalkeeping and the Cougars cohesion being the factors that ended the Pandas’ winning streak. The Pandas had previously won 4 games in a row against Canada West teams before finally facing off against the Cougars on their home pitch. Though the weather was better, the game was not characterized by opportunity for the Cougars, taking only four shots on goal as opposed to the 8 shots on goal they had in the game against MRU.
Through rain and (partial) shine, the Cougars left everything on the field, and the weekend cannot be said to be a complete loss for Regina’s home team, showing their resolve through it all. The next three games played by the Cougars will all be road games, the first of which on the 29 will be against the Lethbridge Pronghorns and then the Calgary Dinos the day after. The next week the Cougars will be playing against the U of S Huskies in Saskatoon on Oct. 6, and the day after the Huskies will be coming to the Cougars home turf to play on the U of R field on Oct. 7.