Hodges’ squad gets top marks
As far as Sarah Hodges is concerned, the University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team is ahead of schedule.
The Cougars went 12-4-0 in the first half of the Canada West regular season and entered the Christmas break in second place, just three points back of the first-place Calgary Dinos.
But even Hodges — the Cougars’ veteran head coach — admits that Regina’s success to date is a bit of a surprise.
“I knew we could be successful; I just thought it may take (the players) a little bit longer to figure it out,” says Hodges, whose team is ranked ninth in the CIS. “We have kids in their fifth year who have only been to the playoffs once and, really, winning is learned.
“It’s all about attitude and success brings success. I just thought it might take until the second half for it to happen.”
The Cougars succeeded despite a difficult first-half schedule. Regina played nine of its first 12 regularseason games on the road, but went 6-3-0 in those games — and that included the program’s first-ever sweep of the Alberta Pandas in Edmonton.
“Being on the road that much had its advantages,” Hodges says. “There was a fair amount of team-bonding that we could do. We also got to continually reinforce the same things like hard work over and over.”
That approach has paid off for the Cougars, as has the ability to learn from the errors they’ve made.
“It’s also the ability to battle, the second effort and playing with urgency,” Hodges says. “We’ve made mistakes, but we’re willing to make the extra effort to keep the puck out of our net.”
Here’s a midterm report card for the various U of R intercollegiate teams currently playing, with comments from their head coaches.
HEAD OF THE CLASS
Women’s basketball: Head coach Dave Taylor is pleased with the way the Cougars played in the first half, when they went 9-1 in conference play and 18-4 overall en route to the No. 3 ranking in the CIS.
Regina’s exhibition schedule included two games against the top-ranked Windsor Lancers (each team won once), two contests versus the No. 2 Fraser Valley Cascades (each team won once) and one game against the No. 5 Carleton Ravens (Carleton won that contest). The Cougars went 9-3 in the pre-season and used that as a springboard into the regular season.
“The goal of our pre-season was to prepare us to win a national championship,” says Taylor, whose squad is to play host to the CIS tournament March 15-17. “We’re one of four or five teams in the country that have a very good chance of winning.”
Regina is getting the expected production out of veterans Michelle Clark, Lindsay Ledingham and Danielle Schmidt, while post Brittany Read — who struggled in the 2011-12 campaign after returning from a knee injury — has regained the form she displayed in 2010-11.
Post Jennilea Coppola has been outstanding off the bench, leading the conference in offensive rebounds (45) and placing fifth in total rebounds (8.3 per game).
Women’s hockey: One of the keys to the Cougars’ success this season has been their depth.
Offensively, Regina is second in the league with 45 goals scored, but only Rianne Wight (who’s tied for third in the league with 18 points) is among the top 10 scorers in the conference.
But that’s where the Cougars’ depth comes in.
Paige Wheeler and Stephanie Sawchuk are tied for 13th in the Canada West scoring derby, Carleen Meszaros and Hillary Lerat are fifth and sixth, respectively, in scoring among Canada West defencemen, and Kylie Gavelin, Jill Kennedy and Alexis Larson are among the top 10 rookie scorers in the conference.
The Cougars are third in Canada West with 34 goals against, and goalies Toni Ross and Jennifer Schmidt are both among the league leaders in every statistical category.
“We just need to continue to get better every week and compete at the same level all the time,” Hodges says. “I think we’re getting there.”
DOING WELL
Men’s wrestling: The Cougars spent most of the first half competing in the U.S., but head coach Leo McGee believes that will stand his charges in good stead after Christmas.
“The unique thing about wrestling is it’s almost like you’re preparing horses for Derby Day,” says McGee, whose squad entered the break ranked fourth in the CIS. “For us, that’s Feb. 15 in Edmonton (where the Canada West championships are to be contested). It all comes down to the conference championships and getting kids through (to the CIS tournament).”
The Cougars lost three Canada West champions from last season in Gilbert Musonza and the Malloy brothers (Gaelan and Connor), but McGee likes the makeup of a squad that he calls “a blue-collar team.”
Steven Schneider — a three-time Canada West champion and 2012 CIS gold medallist — leads the Cougars’ veterans, a group that also includes three-time CIS silver-medallist Kirk Ackerman. Among the newcomers are Matt Fedler and Jacob Luczak, a former Canadian juvenile champion out of Thunder Bay.
Women’s wrestling: The Cougars finished third at the 2012 Canada West championships and fifth at the 2012 CIS event — and McGee believes the 2012-13 team is better.
“The difference for us this year is we have a full slate of kids,” says McGee, whose team is ranked fourth in the country. “Our strength is in numbers. We’re going to be competitive in every weight class. As we go through the second semester, I think people will realize that we’ve got a strong entry.”
Leading the way are 2012 All-Canadians Lisa McKibben and Jasmine Slinn, along with returnees Danielle Anderson, Kayla Brodner and Kristine Longeau.
Jillian Durant, a product of Mount Albion, P.E.I., who’s in her fourth season of eligibility, has joined the program along with a raft of rookies. McGee has high hopes for the likes of Anna Schneider (a former Saskatchewan high school champion) and Cass Schmidt (who hails from Missoula, Mont.).
PASSING GRADES
Men’s basketball: Head coach James Hillis uses the word “disappointed” to describe his take on the Cougars’ first half.
Regina opened the Canada West regular season with a victory over the Saskatchewan Huskies, but then went 2-7 the rest of the way. In the second half, the Cougars are to face teams with a combined 42-38 record — and that includes two teams (UBC Thunderbirds and Alberta Golden Bears) that are ranked in the top 10.
“We played well enough in our last four games,” says Hillis, whose team went 2-2 in that stretch. “We’re hoping we can parlay that into similar performances that can get us over the hump. If we get that performance over our last 12 games, we can have success.”
The Cougars are defending the three-point line better than they have in recent campaigns, but they’re last in the 16-team league in turnover margin at around minus-7 — a full four points worse than the teams tied for 14th.
First-year Cougar Frank Brown has been as advertised, leading the team in scoring, three-point shooting and free-throw percentage, while veterans Connor Burns and Paul Gareau both are averaging more than 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.
Men’s hockey: The Cougars, who went 5-20-3 during the 2011-12 Canada West regular season, sat sixth in the conference with a 7-7-2 record after the first half.
“If you had asked me in the summer if we were going to be .500 at Christmas, I don’t know if I would have agreed with you,” says first-year Cougars head coach Todd Johnson.
“We were fairly successful in the first half. We put down roots that we can build upon to get better in the second half.”
As has been the case in previous seasons, Regina is offensively challenged. Its 37 goals scored rank seventh in the eight-team conference and the team’s leading scorer, Tyler Henry, is tied only for 23rd in the conference with 13 points.
But Johnson likes the way the line of Henry, Matt Strueby and Troy Hunter played in the first half, and the head coach expects contributions from players up and down the roster moving forward.
Goaltenders Andrew Hayes and Lucas Gore kept the Cougars in games throughout the first half and will have to continue to do so down the stretch.
HAVING TROUBLE
Men’s volleyball: Injuries hindered the Cougars’ efforts in the first half; the team had its full roster for just one of its six weekends of competition.
That helps explain a 2-10 Canada West record. So does the fact Regina played five top-10 teams in the first half, going 1-9 in those 10 games.
“We probably could have had a couple more wins with a couple of five-set games that got away from us,” says head coach Greg Barthel. “Given our injury situation, (the first half) was not too bad. We had a tough schedule and played some of the top teams. In the second half, we’re playing teams in the bottom half of the standings, so there are lots of opportunities to get a few wins.”
Regina’s first-half opponents entered the Christmas break with a combined record of 50-22. The Cougars’ final five regular-season opponents are a combined 20-40.
Andrew Nelson, who missed the first four games with an ankle injury, has returned to his role as the team’s leading hitter, while newcomer Rhodri Simmonds is among the conference’s leaders in hitting percentage, blocks and service aces. Libero Jacques Borgeaud also has performed admirably.
Women’s volleyball: Regina’s 3-9 record in the first half disappoints head coach Melanie Sanford, who suggests she projected her team would be 6-6 entering the Canada West break.
But six of the Cougars’ losses were to teams who currently sit first (UBC), second (Trinity Western Spartans) and third (Alberta) in the CIS top 10.
“We did some good things against those teams, but we didn’t get the results,” Sanford says. “Even so, every time we stepped on the court, we got better ... The level of improvement from Day 1 is very significant. It’s just going to take us time.”
Take out Regina’s last two games before the break (against the winless Thompson Rivers Wolf-Pack) and the Cougars’ opponents in the first half have a combined 40-20 record.
Their opponents in the second half are a combined 29-31.
Desiree Ates (sixth in the conference in kills), Michelle Sweeting (seventh in points) and Meagan Lane (second in assists) have produced on offence for Regina, while Megan Semeniuk has done well in her first year as the starting libero.
INCOMPLETE
The men’s and women’s track and field teams and the men’s and women’s swimming squads have yet to hit the busy parts of their schedules, so it’s tough to assess their performances thus far.
While a number of U of R athletes in those sports already have reached automatic qualifying standards for the CIS championships, others will try to do so in the coming weeks.
The Canada West track and field championships are set for Feb. 22-23 in Regina, with the CIS meet slated for March 7-9 in Edmonton.
The conference swimming championships are to be held Jan. 25-27 in Victoria. Nationals are scheduled for Feb. 21-23 in Calgary.