A roundup of Queen's Gaels athletes and teams in action over the weekend:

SQUASH

The Queen’s Gaels women’s squash team successfully defended their title on the weekend in Niagara-on-the-Lake, holding off Western for their fifth straight provincial championship. The men's team was able to come away with an OUA silver medal finish after Western won their 36th straight title.

The Gaels won all six of their fixtures without dropping a match, bringing their final record for the weekend to a perfect 42-0 in match-play. The Gaels and Mustangs closed out the day in a contest that saw Queen’s drop only one game in their path to claim the title. Western finished as silver medalists on the women’s side with a 30-12 match record, while the Toronto Varsity Blues took home bronze with a mark of 26-16.

The Queen’s Gaels men’s team went 5-1 on the weekend with a 26-16 record to claim silver, just ahead of the bronze medalists from Toronto.
Individually on the women’s side, the Tricolour’s standout, Sydney Maxwell, finished undefeated – dropping only two games along the way – and earned herself the OUA women’s MVP and Rookie of the Year awards, as well as an OUA all-star nod. Amelia Knapp was also named an OUA All-Star.

On the men’s side Cameron Butler was named an OUA All-Star.

MEN'S HOCKEY

The Queen's Gaels (19-9-0) clinched the third seed in the OUA East with a 6-3 win over the No. 10 McGill Redmen (16-7-4) on Saturday.

The win capped off another impressive regular season for the Gaels who will take on the Concordia Stingers in the first round of the OUA Playoffs. The Gaels also tied a program record for wins in a season with 19, a mark that was set last season. 

The Gaels got off to a fast start and grabbed a 4-1 lead in the first period with goals by Henry Thompson, Francesco Vilardi, Slater Doggett, and Nevin Guy.

Gaels captain Spencer Abraham picked up an assist on the game's opening goal which officially propelled him past Aaron Fransen for the Queen's record of career points by a defenceman.

After a scoreless second period Alex Row and Duncan Campbell scored in the third before McGill added a pair of late goals.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The Queen’s Gaels women’s hockey team (13-9-1-0) dropped a 4-1 decision to the York Lions (6-10-3-1) Friday in Toronto.

After Katrina Manoukarakis opened the scoring in the first period, the Gaels got into penalty trouble throughout the game and it cost them as York scored four times on the powerplay.

Despite the loss, the Gaels still hold third in the OUA with 41 points but have just one game remaining while fourth place Ryerson (40 points) has three, and fifth place Toronto (39 points) has three.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

The Queen’s women’s basketball team (13-8) knocked off the No. 8 Carleton Ravens (16-5) 74-70 on seniors night Saturday at the ARC. Queen's honoured their two graduating seniors after the game with a special presentation for both Marianne Alarie and Maddie Morris.

Queen’s got off to a hot start and grabbed a 22-14 lead after the first quarter but a cold second quarter saw the visitors take a 34-33 lead into the half. After a back and forth third quarter the Gaels finally moved ahead 71-67 with two minutes to play

Inside the final minute, the Ravens made an effort to claw back, but two crucial foul calls secured a Gaels victory by a score of 74-70. 

Leading the way for the Gaels was Marianne Alarie with 21 points, while Sophie de Goede showed up huge on the boards with 21 rebounds. 

The Gaels are officially fourth in the OUA East despite a pair of games remaining. They will host a home playoff game on Feb. 20 at the ARC, all that is to be determined is the opponent.

On Friday, the Gaels fell to the No. 2 Ottawa Gee-Gees (18-2) 69-40.

After a good start for Queen’s it was Ottawa the rest of the way, taking a 39-21 lead into the half. The visitors kept up the pressure in the second half and were able to close a comfortable win. Leading the way for the Gaels was Maddie Morris with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

The Queen’s Gaels men’s basketball team (11-10) knocked off the No. 6 Ottawa Gee-Gees (13-7) 78-75 in overtime on Friday night at the ARC.

The Gaels got off to a dream start against the Gee-Gees, opening the game on a 14-0 run and finished the opening half with a 40-22 lead.

After the break the Gee-Gees threw everything they had at the Gaels and closed to 58-43. In the final quarter, the Gee-Gees opened on a 10-0 run, cutting the lead to five and then went ahead by five with a little less than a minute remaining. On the Gaels last possession, Harry Range drove hard to the basket in traffic, getting a contested layup to go in as time expired, sending the game to overtime at 68-68. 

In overtime, the teams traded baskets down the stretch before the Gaels finally took control through back-to-back layups from Swann Fargeau-Faucon and Quinton Gray. Leading the way for the Gaels on the night was Tanner Graham with 25 points and nine rebounds.

On Saturday, the Gaels fell to the No. 2 Carleton Ravens (20-1) 81-61 on Seniors Night. Queen’s honoured four graduating seniors prior to the game with a special presentation for Jaz Bains, Matt Elcock, Tanner Graham and Jesse Graham. The night was also the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston’s “Pink the Court” game in support of anti-bullying. Fans, players and staff alike all wore pink to show their support.

The high-flying Ravens arrived in Kingston having won nine of their last 10 games and showed why they are tops in the standing, taking a 37-25 leading 37-25 into the break.

In the second half, the Gaels did their best to keep pace with the top-rated Ravens, but key offensive rebounds and second-chance points prevented the Gaels from ever getting within striking distance.
Leading the way for the Gaels in scoring was Jaz Bains with 17 points.

With the result, the Gaels will officially finish fifth in the OUA East as both Laurentian and Ottawa hold tie-breakers over the Gaels. Queen’s will visit either the Voyageurs or Gee-Gees in the OUA playoffs.

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The Queen’s Gaels (10-6) extended their winning streak to three games with a 3-1 set victory over the RMC Paladins (0-16). The win marked the Gaels’ final road game of the regular season as they’ll play their final three games at the ARC.

The Gaels won 25-18, 25-12, 21-25, and 25-16 with Caroline Livingston connecting for 15 kills. Queen’s currently sits in third, a game behind Toronto.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

The No. 9 Queen’s Gaels (13-3) picked up a three-set sweep over the RMC Paladins (1-15) in their final road game of the regular season. The Gaels started off big and kept up the pressure with set wins of 25-18, 25-20, and 25-18. Adam Boljkovac led with 12 kills.

The Gaels lead  the OUA East and have a favourable schedule down the stretch. Another win over their final three games would secure the top seed in the OUA East heading into the playoffs.

SWIMMING

Queen’s Gaels swimmer Steven Lee picked up a pair of silvers as the men’s team finish sixth at the OUA Swimming Championships and the women eighth in St. Catharines

Lee swam 28.63 in the 50m breaststroke, just 0.79 seconds off of the gold medal swimmer. On Thursday, Lee grabbed the 100m breaststroke silver in a time of 1:01.80, one second off top spot. Lee also took home OUA All-Star honours for his silver medal finishes.

On the final day of competition, Queen's picked up their third medal thanks to Victor Uemura’s bronze in the 200m individual medley with a time of 2:05.43.

MEN’S FENCING

The Queen’s Gaels fifth overall as the 2019 OUA Men’s Fencing Championship at the University of Toronto's Athletic Centre Field House.

The Varsity Blues finished with 252 points, ahead of the Carleton Ravens (250) and bronze medalist RMC Paladins (214). Rodney Carter of the Queen’s Gaels earned OUA coach of the year honours.

The Queen’s Gaels squad of Gavin Crowder, Matthew Litwin, Rory McEwen, and Spencer McGregor grabbed an OUA silver medal in the epee team relay event. The Gaels lost out on the gold to the host Toronto Varsity Blues.

In individual competition on day one, Queen’s fencers Matthew Litwin and Spencer McGregor placed fourth and fifth respectively in the competition.