Women's Hockey | 1/6/2016 11:50:00 AM

The University of Regina women's hockey team will head to Calgary this weekend to take on the Dinos and look to climb up the standings in a crowded Canada West conference.

The Cougars and Dinos will square off on Friday at 7 p.m. local time followed by a Saturday rematch slated for 3 p.m.

Regina enters the 2016 calendar year in fifth place in the conference sporting a 6-6-3-1 record. The Cougars' 25 points leave them only three points back of the first-place Alberta Pandas. Calgary heads into the new year at the bottom of Canada West, with a 2-9-1-4 record.

This weekend's set will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, as the Cougars offence exploded for 11 goals on the opening weekend of the season. Regina's 4-3 and 7-0 wins over the Dinos were bolstered by Emma Waldenberger's five goals and two assists, a performance that would earn her Canada West and CIS Player of the Week honours.

Leading the Cougars attack into the new year are Jaycee Magwood and Kylie Gavelin. The duo sits one-two in the Canada West and CIS scoring races behind only Calgary's Iya Gavrilova. Magwood has six goals and 12 assists while Gavelin has posted seven goals and 10 assists in 14 games of action. Waldenberger's hot start against Calgary set the tone for the second-year forward, who now leads the nation with nine goals.

The Cougars are currently leading Canada West in goals scored, and head coach Sarah Hodges expects that to continue into 2016. "As long as we continue to shoot lots and get traffic in front of the net we should see the same level of goal scoring. If we don't start thinking about it too much we'll be just fine on offense."

Toni Ross has seen most of the action in net, and the fifth-year goaltender has been exceptional. Ross leads Canada West with nine wins and is second in the conference with a .939 save percentage.

"Toni's level of competition has been great, she's ready to go every game and able to focus on one shot at a time," Hodges added. "She wants to win and bounces back quickly after giving up goals. She's played well in every type of game, whether she faces lots of shots or very few, she's ready."

Gavrilova has 22 points for the Dinos including eight goals. Sasha Vafina has also been a threat on the offensive end, registering eight goals and eight helpers alongside Gavrilova. Sarah Murray and Hayley Dowling have shared netminding responsibilities for the Dinos, with Murray making 10 appearances and Dowling seeing time in seven games.