Cougars catchup: Winter 2026

Naomi Campbell and Julia Finot, Staff Writers & Zafir Nagji, Sports Editor

Welcome back to Lincoln Park Campus, Cougars fans! 2025 delivered plenty of excitement and even some silverware for MRU’s soccer teams, but as the hockey, volleyball and basketball teams head into the final stages of their seasons, plenty more is on the horizon – and at stake – as all six teams are in heated battles for playoff positions.

Men’s Hockey 

The Cougars Men’s Hockey Team had high expectations coming into the 2025-26 season after their historic playoff run in 2024-25. The men were ranked second in the coach’s poll after their exhibition games in September, yet their season started off with a tough loss on the road to division rivals, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. 

With their first few weekends leading off on the wrong foot with the men only winning games on Saturday nights, their luck changed during their weekend sweep against the Trinity Western Spartans, starting their run to move past the middle ground of their division standings.

Moving into the second half of the year, the men’s defensive core has added a new player in Ty Gibson. Gibson joins the Cougars after playing a full season in the Eastern Canadian Hockey League (ECHL) with the Adirondack Thunder and Iowa Heartlanders. With Gibson being only five feet and nine inches tall, his stats from his time in the Western Hockey League on the Everett Silvertips prove he can play just as well as the bigger defenders.

After the men’s Hail Mary run to the CanadaWest finals last season, they are eager to put themselves back on top, with sights set on championship banners.

Women’s Hockey

The women’s season started off on a different path, with game one at home against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, defeating them 3-1 in regulation. After being ranked third in the coach’s poll at the start of the year, heading into the break, they see themselves at the top of the East division, and second in CanadaWest.

Midway through the first half of the year, they saw themselves in a shootout against the very skilled University of Alberta Pandas. Head coach Scott Rivett put his trust in veteran Jordyn Hutt, before switching to rookie Keyana Bert, who in turn scored the lone goal to grab them a 4-3 win.

On the defensive side of things, rookie Isa MacPhee joins the roster all the way from Kingsboro, P.E.I. MacPhee has become a force to be reckoned with on the blue line, as well as earning her first CanadaWest goal in the final game of 2025 in a 4-2 win against the University of Manitoba Bisons. 

The women hope to head back to the CanadaWest playoffs this year, with a goal to push all the way to the finals after being knocked out in game three of the semi finals against the University of Alberta Panda’s.

Women’s Volleyball

At the midway point of the 2025-2026 season, the Mount Royal University women’s volleyball team has faced some challenges. They have started the season with a surprising record of 2-8. After finishing sixth last year, the coaches poll projected them to finish eighth. They now themselves second last in the Canada West standings. The biggest issue has been finishing strong in games. They often come close but struggle to seal the deal.

Despite the struggles, a strong point for the team has been their blocking. They are ranked third in the division with 22 solo blocks, thanks to the talents of Faith Obasi and Mya Morgan.

Many players have stepped up but the standout has been fourth-year outside hitter Sydney Scatcherd. She ranks in the top 20 of kills per set in the division. With 92 kills already, she is on pace to surpass her personal record of 166 kills.

One focus for the team is not only to win, but do so on home soil. They are 0-4 at Kenyon Court and they look to turn that around to round out the season.

Men’s Volleyball

Halfway through the 2025-2026 season, the Mount Royal University men’s volleyball team has seen some highs and lows. They started the season with four undefeated home matches. Unfortunately, that streak ended, and since then it has been up and down, losing some big series. 

Last season the men finished 12th in the standings and this year the coaches poll projected them 10th overall. They are currently sitting sixth and are looking to improve for playoffs.

Their strength has been their roster depth. Between the star-studded group of veterans and a new bunch of recruits, this team has a large group with a diverse skill set adaptable to any situation. 

Rookie Kale Orr has been the front man for this team. He is one of the best offensive players in Canada West. He ranks in the top 10 for kills and kills per set. He also ranks in the top 25 for hitting percentage and digs. Orr is on pace for 244 kills, an achievement no player reached last year.

Consistency is the biggest focus for the team moving into the second half of the season. If they can polish their gameplay, they have the potential to finish strong.

Women’s basketball

The Cougars women’s basketball team were thrown a fierce gauntlet to open their 2025-26 campaign, as they started the season with four consecutive losses to the top two nationally ranked teams — the University of Alberta Pandas and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, who won last year’s conference and national tournaments. 

Since then, the Cougars have won seven of their last nine games, including an explosive win against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns that saw Jenika Martens break the Cougars’ all-time rebounding record and tie her scoring career-high with 27 points. 

Fourth-year guard Asha Donnelly also elevated her game, averaging a career-high 7.8 points per game and torching the twine with 22 made threes in 10 games this season — the second-most in Canada West.

With a 7-7 record, the Cougars hold the fifth seed in the Prairie Division, trailing Saskatchewan, Regina, Alberta, and Calgary. — and the first two teams in that list have to lose with their 12-0 records. They’ll face playoff teams in all of their remaining games, meaning the women will need to put in some serious work to stay in playoff contention.

Men’s basketball

The men also started their season with a pair of losses against Alberta, but followed that up with three wins in their next four games — two against Saskatchewan and one against Winnipeg.

After their win in Winnipeg, the Cougars rattled off five more victories in their next six games, beating MacEwan and Lethbridge twice each and Regina once. Team captain Sam Barnie gave fans a night to remember against the Griffins, dropping a career-high 28 points on just 16 shot attempts in the 84-60 win. 

However, as great as some of the individual performances have been this year, MRU found their success in playing unselfish, team-first basketball. Ranking fifth in field goals, three-pointers and free throws attempted, the Cougars play with pace and aggression on offence. Allowing the second-fewest opponent points and forcing the second-most turnovers per game, they’re also a hellacious defensive unit. 

At 8-6, the Cougars are sitting in the fifth seed of the Prairie Division. With less than four wins separating them from falling out of playoff contention, every game will be crucial in their path to the postseason.