Rookie striker Peyton Enns was the story of the weekend for the University of Regina's women's soccer team as the Cougars opened non-conference play with wins in two out of their three matches during their road swing to Lethbridge.

Enns scored twice in the U of R's 3-1 victory over Lethbridge on Saturday, then added two more first-half strikes as the Cougars finished off the trip with an 8-0 romp over Lethbridge College on Sunday.

"Peyton came into our program with the expectation to be a goal scorer and throughout preseason she has shown us that she's a creative and confident forward-thinking player that is able to generate and finish opportunities," Cougars interim co-head coach Astrid Baecker said. "To see this translate immediately to goal-scoring success this past weekend was very exciting."

The U of R's only setback of the weekend was a 4-0 loss to Lethbridge on Saturday in the back half of the doubleheader between the Cougars and the Pronghorns.

"We're very pleased with the weekend and how we were able to get valuable minutes in for all the players and evaluate them in a variety of situations," said Rob McCaffrey, the U of R's other interim co-head coach. "It was great to see what we've worked on these past three weeks visible in the games. We've got lots of area still to grow and are looking forward to reviewing the film to continue improving every day."

Kirsten Koellmel scored the other goal for the Cougars in Saturday's win over the Pronghorns. The U of R led 2-0 at the half against Lethbridge College on Sunday thanks to the third and fourth strikes of the weekend by Enns and poured it on after halftime. The Cougars got two goals by Kyra Vibert and singles from Jessica Gaudet, Koellmel, Zoe Icton, and Grace Miller in the big win over the Kodiaks.

Besides the stellar four-goal outburst by Enns, Baecker and McCaffrey also lauded the play of Allyson Ford. The first-year goalkeeper played the first half of the first Lethbridge match and the majority of the Lethbridge College match and made key saves in both contests while not conceding a goal. Returning players Vibert, Gaudet, and Sierra Kolodziej also stood out for the Cougars during the season-opening weekend.

The Cougars will now prepare for their final tune-ups of the year as they'll host Brandon University on Saturday and Sunday at the U of R Field. The Bobcats are members of the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference.