Silver linings in women’s hockey and men’s volleyball

Silver linings in women’s hockey and men’s volleyball

By Communications Staff

March 12, 2018

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Queen's women's hockey salutes the crowd
The Queen's Gaels women's hockey team salutes their fans at the Memorial Centre following Saturday's McCaw Cup final. (Photo by Ian McAlpine)

A quick roundup of Gaels teams in action over the weekend:

WOMENS HOCKEY

The No. 5 Queen’s Gaels fell 3-0 to the No. 7 Western Mustangs who claimed their second McCaw Cup title in program history Saturday at the Memorial Centre.

Both teams now advance to the U Sports national championship which the Mustangs host starting on Thursday.

Gaels goalie Stephanie Pascal and her Mustangs counterpart Carmen Lassis stood tall in net in the early going before Western opened the scoring on a first-period power play through Megan Taylor.

The Gaels had their opportunities as well but were unable to solve Lasis. Then, with just 22 seconds left in the second period the Mustangs made it 2-0 on a goal by Alyssa Chiarello.

The Gaels had another early power play in the third period but came away with nothing to show for it. Just after the advantage ended, the Gaels appeared to have scored after a Mustangs player deflected the puck into her own net but it was called off by the officials.

The Gaels pulled Pascal on multiple occasions, first with an abbreviated power play and then with just a few minutes remaining and Western’s Amanda Pereira iced the win with an empty-net goal.

Western goaltender Carmen Lasis was named the game MVP after picking up the shutout stopping all 28 shots faced.

"I think we had a better third than the second, but it just wasn't enough,” Queen’s head coach Matt Holmberg said after the game. “Bigger picture, I'm certainly happy with where we are. We’ve earned our spot at nationals, and we still feel confident in our room that we can make some noise next week.”

OUA Men's volleyball
The Queen's Gaels' Zane Grossinger and Malcolm Prentice put up a block against Andrew Richards of the McMaster Marauders in the Forsyth Cup OUA final on Saturday. (Photo by Rick Zazulak)  

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

After reaching the Forsyth Cup OUA championship with a five-set upset of the Ryerson Rams, the Queen’s Gaels fell in straight sets to the McMaster Marauders in Hamilton on Saturday night 25-17, 25-15, 25-21.

The Gaels and Marauders both advance to the U Sports national championship next weekend which will also be hosted by McMaster.

After Queen’s took the first point in the match, the Marauders thundered back as they took the next six with two aces from Matt Passalent aiding the cause. The Gaels grabbed a 13-12 but were unable to maintain the momentum.

The second set was a different story as the Marauders set the pace for an early lead and took the set easily.

In the third set the Gaels battled hard for a 16-11 lead. However, following a timeout McMaster grabbed control and finished off the set and match 25-21.

Markus Trence led the Gaels with 13 kills and an ace. Zane Grossinger had 21 assists.

The Gaels face the Alberta Golden Bears in the U Sports quarterfinal on Friday, March 16 at 3 pm. The game will be broadcast on t USPORTS.live.

On Friday, the Gaels beat the Rams 25-20, 25-18, 17-25, 19-25, 15-9 to reach the final. Queen's was led by Zac Hutcheson with 20 kills while Jack Peckham added 15 and Trence had 12. Grossinger finished with 56 assists.