After winning its home opener last Saturday, the University of Regina's women's soccer team returns to the U of R Field this weekend for Canada West matches against No. 9-ranked Manitoba and Winnipeg.

Saturday's match features the Cougars and the Bisons, while the U of R hosts the Wesmen on Sunday in what will be the first Canada West women's soccer match played between the two schools. Both matches have a noon kickoff scheduled at the U of R Field.

The Cougars (1-0-0) opened up the conference schedule last weekend against provincial rival Saskatchewan, getting a goal from Meagan Cormier in the 31st minute and hanging on for a 1-0 victory. Making her fourth start as a Cougar, Stephanie Possberg collected seven saves and recorded the first win and shutout of her CIS career.

Cormier was dangerous all game long for the U of R, attempting a match-high nine shots and registering five of the team's eight shots on goal. Racquel Marshall set up Cormier's goal with a long through ball off a free kick, giving the second-year defender her first career assist.

Three first-year Cougars made their U of R debuts in the victory, as Kayla McDonald, Deanna Dartige, and Karlee Vorrieter all came on as second-half subs and helped seal the win.

After this weekend, the Cougars will prepare for their first conference road match of the season. They'll travel to Prince George, B.C. for a match against Canada West newcomer UNBC on Sunday, Sept. 23.

Both of this weekend's matches will have live stats available at www.reginacougars.com.

University of Manitoba Bisons (2-0-0)
Manitoba opened up the Canada West schedule last weekend with a pair of wins over two new Canada West women's soccer teams. Kaylan Strang's goal in the 55th minute stood up as the winner in a 1-0 victory over Winnipeg on Friday, and the Bisons got the offence rolling on Sunday and steamrolled UNBC by an 11-0 score.

Three Bisons scored hat tricks in the UNBC game, including Daniella Scerbo, Gillian Sidon, and Dena Yaghi. Chloe Werle had shutouts in both matches for Manitoba, which will travel up to Saskatoon following Saturday's match to play at Saskatchewan on Sunday.

The Bisons broke into the CIS Top Ten in this week's poll, grabbing the No. 9 spot after their two-win weekend. Manitoba is one of four Canada West teams currently ranked.

University of Winnipeg Wesmen (0-1-1)
In their inaugural Canada West season, the Wesmen opened up the conference schedule with a 1-0 loss to Manitoba on Friday before collecting their first point with a 0-0 home draw against UNBC on Saturday.

Winnipeg went with first-year goalkeeper Ainslie McConkey in both matches, with the Stonewall Collegiate product making eight saves in her first weekend of action and collecting her first CIS shutout in the UNBC match. Second-year forward Chelsea Kwasnicki and third-year midfielder Sheri Hince tied for the team lead with five shot attempts.

The Wesmen play at Saskatchewan on Saturday before coming down for Sunday's match against the Cougars.