GUELPH, Ont. (October 21, 2017) - The No.7 Queen's Gaels were in Guelph for the OUA Championship against the No.2 Guelph Gryphons. The home side Guelph took a 43-17 win and Queen's finishes as the OUA silver medalists.

GAME FLOW
The Gaels and Gryphons traded possessions early with neither team able to move the ball out of the mid-field range.

Guelph was the first team on the board as they put down the games first try and kicked a successful conversion for an early 7-0 lead. Queen's was able to quickly respond just a few minutes later as a pile of Gaels helped to push McKinley Hunt (King City, Ont.) and the ball forward past the try line for five points. A tough conversion attempt was missed, and the Gaels were down just two.

A big run set up another Guelph try and they followed up with a penalty goal kick for another three points to give them a 15-5 lead on the Gaels. Nadia Popov (Newmarket, Ont.) put together big runs for the Gaels, but they fell just short of the try line as the Guelph defence held strong.

The Gryphons closed out the half with a try and a missed penalty goal kick and held a 22-5 lead over Queen's after the first 40 minutes.

In the second half, Queen's was finally able to find their stride and put some points on the board. First, it was a great 20 metre run from Janna Slevinsky (Calgary) followed by Popov pushing through for a try. Popov connected on a conversion after her try to give the Gaels 12 straight points and cut the lead down to just five at 22-17.

Guelph continued to challenge the Gaels defence who held strong at the goal line on multiple Gryphon offensive pushes. Guelph had trouble holding onto the ball and turned it over to Queen's on the goal line twice. Queen's couldn't move the ball upfield, and eventually, the Gryphons were able to capitalize and take a 29-17 lead.

The Gryphons closed it out from there and finished with a 43-17 win.

FINAL SAY
"I thought when we didn't execute or were a little bit reluctant Guelph took advantage of those opportunities, and that's what good teams do. Likewise, I thought when Guelph made some miscues we took advantage of those, and I thought we did a good job of staying with them through 60, but they got a bit of traction in the final 20 minutes. Now we'll reload and get ready for the national championships." - Head coach Dan Valley

BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Nationally ranked programs the No.7 Gaels and No.2 Gryphons
1 - Trip to Lethbridge, Alberta for each team up next for the U SPORTS championship
7 - Points for Nadia Popov
3 - Gaels honoured as Sophie de Goede, Kara Gani and Hunt all received their All-Star certificates after the match

UP NEXT
The Gaels will travel to Lethbridge, Alberta for the U SPORTS women's rugby championship. The action is set to begin on Thursday, November 2.