It was a busy weekend for Queen’s Gaels teams and athletes with a number of OUA championships and playoffs being hosted on campus and across the province.

Here’s a quick look at the results:

WOMEN’S RUGBY

The Queen’s Gaels defended their OUA Women’s Rugby title with a 33-19 win over the Guelph Gryphons in a rematch of last year's final at Nixon Field on Friday night.

In a hard-fought battle, the Gaels grabbed a 12-5 lead at the half through tries by Taylor Perry and Mika Matsukubo, with Lizzie Gibson getting the convert on the first score.

The hosts stretched their lead shortly after the restart with tries by Maggie Banks and Siobhan Sheerin, with Gibson making both converts to make it 26-5 in the 55th minute.

Rachel Cullum made it 33-5 just 10 minutes later and Gibson made her fourth convert of the game. The Gryphons replied with a pair of late tries to cut the lead to 33-19 but that was as close as they would get, allowing the Gaels to hoist the Monilex Trophy.

The Gaels will next play in the USPORTS National Rugby Championship, being hosted by Laval University in Quebec City, where they will play their opening-round match against the UPEI Panthers on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The Gaels women’s soccer team advanced to the OUA semifinals with a thrilling 2-1 win over the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday night at Richardson Stadium.

With 10 minutes left and the game tied 1-1, Vita Naihin gathered a rebound and scored the winner for the hosts. Seema Sakran gave the Gaels the lead 25 minutes into the game only to see the Lakers equalize just eight minutes later.

The Gaels now face the Western Mustangs on Wednesday, Nov. 1 in London.

This latest Gaels win adds to the excitement of what’s shaping up to be a big fall for women’s soccer on campus. Queen’s is hosting the USPORTS National Women’s Soccer Championship at Richardson Stadium Nov. 9-12. Tickets are available online.

FOOTBALL

The Gaels advanced to the OUA semifinals with a 15-10 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday at Richardson Stadium.

The teams met for a second straight week after closing the regular season, with both games being low-scoring affairs. 

The Gaels opened the scoring on a touchdown by Anthony Soles on a five-yard run. Punter Aayden Callan then added a point early in the second quarter with a rouge. The Gee-Gees responded with two field goals to cut the gap to 8-6.

The teams exchanged rouges ahead of the half to make it 9-7 at the break.

The defences continued to dominate in the second half but the Gaels finally made a breakthrough when kicker Tyler Mullan was successful on a 30-yard field goal to make it 13-7. 

In the final quarter, Ottawa notched an early field goal before the Gaels added two points on a safety, sacking the Ottawa quarterback in his own end zone.

Queen’s defence sealed the game the rest of the way for the win. 

The Gaels now face the Western Mustangs next week in London. 

Later this fall, the pinnacle of Canadian university football is coming to Queen’s as the university hosts the national championship game – the Vanier Cup – on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 1 p.m. at Richardson Stadium. See the Queen’s Vanier Cup website for game and ticket information.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

The Gaels claimed the silver medal as they hosted the OUA Women’s Lacrosse Championship over the weekend at Tindall Field.

The Gaels reached the final but lost 9-6 to the Western Mustangs on Sunday. The Gaels had led for much of the game, but the Mustangs finished with a dominating fourth quarter to capture the gold.

ROWING

The Gaels women’s team won the gold medal and the men’s team the bronze at the OUA Rowing Championships in St. Catharines over the weekend.

Queen’s also won the Women’s Coaches of the Year award, with Katie Bruggeling, Rami Maassarani, Scott Feddery, Kathleen Rankin being recognized.

The women’s team finished with 496 points, 88 points more than the second-place Western Mustangs. The men's side finished with 227 points, 166 points behind the Mustangs, who finished second overall. The Brock Badgers won gold with 488 points. 

The women’s team captured four gold medals in the W2-, Lightweight W 8+, Lightweight W 4+ and the Lightweight 2-. They took home three silver (4+, 1X, LWT 1X) and three bronze medals (2X, LWT 2X, 8+) as well. The men’s team captured one gold (2X), three silver (2-, LWT 2X, LWT 4+), and two bronze medals (LWT 1X, 1X).

CROSS COUNTRY

The Gaels men’s cross country team won the silver medal and the women’s team placed fourth at the OUA Cross Country Championships in Waterloo on Saturday.

The men finished with a team score of 55 points, 21 points behind the first-place Guelph Gryphons, and 50 points ahead of the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Roman Mironov was the Gaels’ top finisher placing fourth overall in a time of 24:35.8 in the 8-km race. Miles Brackenbury finished fifth in 24:37.4.

The women finished with a team score of 94, 69 points behind the first-place Western Mustangs, and 18 points behind the McMaster Marauders in third.

Elizabeth Vroom was the Gaels’ top finisher, crossing the line in 14th place in a time of 30:01.6 in the 8-km race. Lauren Lowther was right behind in 15th place with a time of 30:03.9.

MEN’S RUGBY

The Gaels men’s team opened the OUA Playoffs with a 57-21 win over the Trent Excalibur Saturday at Nixon Field. With the win, the Gaels advanced to the OUA semifinals and will travel to St. Catharines to take on the Brock Badgers.

James Webb, Eric Godden, and Owen Lee led the offensive charge for Queen’s, all scoring in double digits.

FENCING

Queen’s University welcomed 253 fencers in six senior events at the 2023 Queen’s Hugh Munby Fencing Tournament on Oct 28-29 at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC). 

Queen’s faced strong competition but had three Top 8 finishes with Luke Steve placing fifth in men’s sabre, Kristin Lang finishing seventh in women’s sabre, and James Broughton placing fifth in men’s foil. 

MEN’S HOCKEY

The Gaels earned a split of their games this weekend at the Memorial Centre, defeating the TMU Bold 7-2 on Saturday after losing 6-2 to the UQTR Patriotes on Friday. The team’s record is now 5-3.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Gaels were in North Bay to face the Nipissing Lakers and lost both, falling 4-1 on Friday followed by a 6-3 defeat on Saturday. The team’s record now sits at 1-4.