Mount Royal Cougars
The Mount Royal Cougars are the men's and women's athletic teams that represent Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Cougars field eight varsity teams with four men's teams and four women's teams that compete in the Canada West Universities Athletic Association of U Sports. The Cougars were previously members of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association prior to the move to CIS (since renamed U Sports) in 2012. Varsity teams Men's basketball The Cougars men's basketball program has yielded two national championship teams as members of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association, winning in 1979 and in 2009. Upon moving to the Canada West conference in 2012, the Cougars saw some success in the Explorers division in 2015 and 2016, but did not qualify for the playoffs until 2019 where they lost the play-in game to the Regina Cougars. The team plays their home games at the Kenyon Court on the MRU campus. Women's basketball The Cougars women's basketball team won one national championship in 2000 and six silver medals, most recently in 2004, while competing in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association. The team recently made it to playoffs last season for their first time in USPORT history with the head coach, Robyn Fleckenstein. The team plays their home games at the Kenyon Court on the MRU campus. Men's hockey The Cougars men's ice hockey team had won 12 Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference championships prior to the move to the Canada West Universities Athletic Association. The team first qualified for the Canada West playoffs in their second season in the conference in the 2013–14 season and consistently qualified for the playoffs in each season since then. However, the team had not advanced past the conference semi-finals. The team plays home games at the Flames Community Arena. Women's hockey The Cougars women's ice hockey program first began play for the 2001–02 season and won five conference titles in their 11 years in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference. The team plays home games at the Flames Community Arena. After seeing initial challenges upon moving to the Canada West conference of CIS, the Cougars first qualified for the playoffs in 2017 where they lost to the Manitoba Bisons. The team won their first playoffs series in 2020 after defeating the Saskatchewan Huskies in the quarter-final and then went on to beat the Calgary Dinos in the semi-final before losing the Canada West final to the Alberta Pandas. As a conference finalist, the Cougars qualified for their first U Sports women's ice hockey championship tournament in 2020 and won their opening game, but the remainder of the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Men's soccer The Cougars men's soccer team won three national titles and 13 conference titles as members of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference. The Cougars first qualified for the playoffs in 2015 and played in the conference Final Four in 2019. The team plays home games at Mount Royal Field. Women's