Women's Hockey | 2/3/2016 1:58:00 PM

The University of Regina women's hockey team enters a critical weekend for Canada West playoff seeding, as the Cougars head to Vancouver to take on the UBC Thunderbirds in a two-game set.

The Cougars (11-8-4-1) clinched a playoff spot last weekend after sweeping Mount Royal, and enter the weekend trailing UBC by just a point for first place in the crowded conference standings. Regina is tied for second place with Alberta, who will match up with the fourth-place Saskatchewan Huskies this weekend.

The Cougars beat Mount Royal 3-2 in overtime last Friday, before completing the weekend sweep with a 4-1 win on home ice the following afternoon. Tessa Wilson and Kylee Kupper scored before Alexis Larson netted the overtime winner on Friday. Jaycee Magwood scored twice on Saturday while Kylie Gavelin and Stephanie Sawchuk each had a goal and two assists. Toni Ross made 22 saves in both games to bump her CIS-leading win total to 15.

The Thunderbirds and Cougars have been the hottest teams in Canada West over the past two months, both winning seven of their past 10 games. The two teams met back in October and split a weekend series. Regina won the opener 3-2 in double overtime thanks to a pair of goals from Gavelin, but UBC rebounded for a 3-1 win the next day.

Gavelin and Magwood are third and fourth in the conference in scoring heading into this weekend, both with 10 goals on the year. Gavelin has 14 assists for 24 points while Magwood has collected 13 helpers. Emma Waldenberger is tied for second in the Canada West goal scoring race with 12. Sawchuk has also come on as of late, totaling 13 points while Larson has accumulated 12. Carleen Meszaros (11), Bailey Braden (10), and Nikki Watters-Matthes (10) are also in double figures in points.

Rebecca Unrau is the T-Birds' leading scorer, notching 11 goals and 10 assists in 24 games. Kathleen Cahoon and Haneet Parhar both have 14 points for UBC, which is second in goals for behind Regina.

Opposite Ross this weekend will be either Danielle Dube or Samantha Langford. Both goalies have been great for UBC, with Dube posting a .933 save percentage and 1.57 goals-against average. Langford has put up marks of .907 and 1.86. Meanwhile, Ross leads the conference with a save percentage of .935 and is second with a 1.57 GAA.

Both games will face off at 7 p.m. local time at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.