GAME OF THE WEEK
Women's Basketball
The Queen's women's basketball team will open their 2017-18 season on home court when they welcome the Lakehead Thunderwolves to the ARC main gym this Friday, October 27 at 6 pm.
After a historic 2016-17 campaign that saw an 18-1 regular season finish, expectations are high for the Gaels women's basketball team who held a spot in the U SPORTS top 10 rankings for all 14 weeks of the season.
Heading into the season opener match-up against Lakehead, the Tricolour will look to pick up where they left off last season and collect a victory on home court.
Last year, the Lakehead Thunderwolves finished with an 8-11 record and met the Gaels twice – once during regular season play and during the OUA playoffs. In both match-ups, Queen's came away triumphant with a 68-61 win and an 81-53 OUA quarterfinal win.
Men's Basketball
The Gaels men's basketball team will also commence their regular season with a home opener against the Lakehead Thunderwolves. Tip-off is set for 8pm on Friday following the women's game.
The Thunderwolves 2016-17 season culminated in a 6-13 finish as compared to a 7-12 regular season standing for the Gaels.
These two teams met once during conference play last year when the Gaels travelled to Thunder Bay. Queen's came away with a 76-75 win after a fourth quarter offensive surge. Down by 20 points heading into the last frame, Queen's scored an astounding 23-straight points. The Graham brothers each added 12 points and seven rebounds, and
Sammy Ayisi tallied nine points for the Gaels, who shot 38.7% overall.
Admission for students is free. For tickets to the home openers, head to www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets.
Can't make it to the games? Watch them both live at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm Friday on OUA.tv.
WEDNESDAY
Men's Soccer
Finishing with a 6-7-3 regular season record, the Queen's men's soccer squad clinched the sixth and final playoff berth. The Tricolour will make their way to Toronto mid-week to take on the Ryerson Rams in an OUA playoff fixture this Wednesday, October 25. Kick-off is set for 7 pm.
Returning from Toronto this past weekend, the Gaels will have a couple days to recover in Kingston before they return to the big city and Rams territory. Closing their regular season with matches against Ryerson and U of T on Friday and Saturday, the Gaels finished with a 6-7-3 record.
Despite a strong start to the 2017 season with a 6-game win streak, the Rams had to forfeit their first six victories due to a self-disclosed ineligible player. Since then, the strong Ryerson side has picked up seven wins and a tie for a 7-6-1 record coming into the Queen's matchup.
Friday night saw Queen's suffer a tough 2-1 to the Ryerson Rams during a Friday Night Lights affair. In a scrappy match at Downsview Park, Ryerson opened the scoring early with a goal in the 12th minute of play. It was only late into the second that Queen's responded. Veteran midfielder
Tonko Bacelic buried an equalizer in the 78th minute to level the score 1-1. Heartbreak would ensue however as the Rams top scorer Nick Lambis found the net with a goal in the 89th minute.
Beyond conference play, this isn't the first time that the Gaels have met Ryerson during playoffs. Last year, the Tricolour took the then No. 3 nationally ranked Rams to overtime during the OUA quarterfinals in Toronto.
In extra time, first year Gaels keeper
Alex Jones saved a penalty kick to keep it scoreless. With eight minutes left in the second half of extra time, the Rams were able to scrape a goal and the score stood at 1-0.
FRIDAY
Men's Hockey
The Gaels hockey team (3-0-1) will return to home ice when they host their long-time rivals the No.5 McGill Redmen (5-1-0) Friday night at the Memorial Centre. Puck drop is set for 7:30 pm.
The Redmen enter play coming off back-to-back home wins last weekend against Guelph and Brock. For the Gaels who were on the road, an overtime 2-1 score to Toronto would be followed by a 4-3 triumph over nationally ranked Ryerson to close out their weekend.
Last season, both meetings between Queen's and McGill resulted in tricolour victories, with Queen's defeating the Redmen 4-0 at home and 2-1 on the road. During that same season, McGill finished at the top of the OUA East with a 21-4-3 record while the Gaels held third at 18-7-3.
The Queen's hockey team will have a back-to-back action at the Memorial Centre with a match-up against Concordia (3-0-1) on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. Like McGill, the Stingers finished ahead of the Gaels at the culmination of the regular season with a 19-7-2 standing. While they met twice last year, both Queen's and Concordia managed to take a victory on the road with a 2-1 score in favour of the Gaels fin Montreal followed by a 6-3 result for the Stingers in Kingston.
Admission for students is free. For tickets, head to www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets.
Can't make it to the games? Watch them both live at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday on
OUA.tv.
Rowing
The Queen's rowing team is on the road this weekend heading to St. Catharines to compete in the OUA Championships.
Closing out their invitational schedule at the Brock regatta on October 14, the Gaels looked strong as ever with multiple top three placements.
The Brock Invitational saw Gaels rowers
Elliot Hall and
Robert Cadman in the Men's 2- event take home 2nd overall,
Alexander Bernst and
Nicholas Grubic with 1st and 3rd respectively in Light Men's 1X event finals and
Louise Munro in the W1X handily winning both her heat and final.
Gavin Stone had a strong performance in the M1X event with a 2
nd overall finish.
Making reappearance in the Light Men's 2X, duo
Alexander Bernst and
Nicholas Grubic dominated the finals and won gold for Queen's.
Look for the Gaels to have another strong showing, this time battling for podium spots at the OUA Championships.
SATURDAY
Women's Hockey
The Gaels women's hockey team (2-0-0-1) will continue their regular season, returning to Kingston for their home opener at the Memorial Centre this Saturday at 2:30 pm against the Guelph Gryphons (1-0-1-0).
The home opener follows a tough 3-2 overtime loss on the road at Waterloo last Sunday when the Warriors pulled their goalie and were able to score the equalizer with just 41 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. In the extra frame, the Warriors were able to complete the comeback to steal a 3-2 win from the Gaels.
Queen's will be looking to bounce back against the Gryphons and pick up their third win of the 2017 season. The game will prove a challenge for the Gaels as they have not secured a result against the strong Guelph group since their 3-1 victory back in 2013.
With a quick turnaround, the Tricolour will host the York Lions at the Memorial Centre on Sunday at 2:30pm.
The Queen's University Female Varsity Athlete of the Week,
Katrina Manoukarakis, will look to extend her scoring campaign from last weekend. The third-year forward recorded three of the four Gaels goals against Brock and Waterloo.
Admission for students is free. For tickets to the home opener, head to www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets.
Watch the games live on
OUA.tv.
Football
Clinching the sixth and final playoff spot following a four-game win streak, the Gaels football team (4-4) will hit the road this weekend when they travel to Hamilton to take on the No._ nationally ranked McMaster Marauders (6-2) during the first round of the OUA playoffs.
For a full playoff preview,
click here.
Watch the game live on
OUA.tv.
Men's Rugby
Like the women's soccer squad, the Queen's men's rugby team will also enjoy a first round playoff bye. Closing out a perfect season going 8-0, the undefeated Gaels will host either the fourth-seeded Western or the fifth-seeded Laurier in conference semifinal action next week on Saturday, November 4 at Nixon Field. Game time is TBD.
Cross Country
The No.1 women's and No.6 men's cross country team will make their way to Windsor for the OUA Championships at Malden Park hosted by the University of Windsor on Saturday, October 28.
For the Queen's women's team who have held the top national rank for five consecutive weeks, the No.1 ranking was the first time the Gaels held the spot since 2003 when they claimed the pole position in the initial three weeks of the season (Sept. 17, 24 and Oct.1, 2003).
Look for Gaels runners
Branna MacDougall and
Claire Sumner to lead the nationally ranked team. During their last invitational meet, MacDougall and Sumner led Queen's with fourth and sixth finishes at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. On the men's side,
Eric Wynands paced the Queen's runners finishing third in a time of 24:40; followed by a sixth place
Mark Schmidt and eighth place Rob Kanko for the Gaels.
Over the last seven years, the Gaels have earned eleven medals at the OUA and U SPORTS level between both men's and women's teams. On the women's side, the Gaels picked up a U SPORTS silver and OUA silver in 2016, a U SPORTS bronze in 2013 and an OUA bronze in 2010. The tricolour men had back-to-back bronze medals in 2011 and 2012.
The Gaels teams will be looking to push for podium spots at the OUA championships to qualify for the U SPORTS championships in Victoria, B.C. next month.
SUNDAY
Women's Soccer
Securing second in the OUA East following back-to-back wins in Toronto this past weekend, the Gaels women's soccer team earned a bye-week during the first round of playoffs.
Capping off their regular season with a 12-3-1 record, the Gaels will take on the winner of Wednesday's Ottawa-Toronto playoffs match-up and host an OUA quarterfinal fixture on Saturday, October 28. Kick-off is set for 1 pm at Richardson Stadium.
Queen's strikers
Laura Callender,
Jenny Wolever and rookie
Alexandra Doane dominated the OUA standings to close out the regular season, with Callendar notching 13 goals to lead the OUA. Wolever and Doane added 10 goals each to tie for third-highest in the conference. With another 9 assists, third-year Wolever championed the OUA with 19 total points.
Look for the strong attacking line to lead the Gaels to the OUA Final Four with a win on Saturday.
Save with an online purchase for tickets to the playoff game. Click here to purchase an online ticket.
Adult: Online $8.00 / In-person $10.00
Youth/Student: Online $5.00 / In-person $6.00
Can't make it to the playoff game? Watch it live on
OUA.tv Saturday at 1 pm.
Women's Volleyball
The Gaels women's volleyball team will begin their OUA regular season down the road at RMC on Sunday before returning to Kingston for their home opener on November 4 against Nipissing. Sunday's season opener against the Paladins will see a 1 pm game time.
Last year, the Gaels team finished the season with a 10-9 record, culminating in a quarterfinal loss to Western during the OUA playoffs. Queen's swept RMC 3-0 during back-to-back regular season fixtures last year.
Look for returning OUA All-Stars
Caroline Livingston and
Isabelle Korchinski to lead the Gaels attack. The pair combined for 434 kills last season – 52% of the Queen's team's kills.
Watch the game live Sunday at 1 pm on
OUA.tv.
