2017 regular season record: 2-2
2017 regular season standings: 3rd in Shiels Division
2017 playoff record: 5-4
2017 playoff finish: Won against Acadia 38-10 in U SPORTS Consolation Semi-Final
Home Field: Nixon Field
Recent Success: 2017 OUA silver medal, 2015 CIS silver medal, 2013 OUA Champions, 2013 CIS bronze medal, 2012 OUA Silver medal
Full Schedule: CLICK HERE
 
The Queen's women's rugby team will open their regular season on the road at Western on September 2 before returning to Kingston for their home opener at Nixon Field on September 8 against Guelph. The Gaels will be looking for redemption against Guelph after falling to the Gryphons in four consecutive OUA Playoffs including in the 2017 OUA Championship.
 
In his first season as Gaels' head coach, Dan Valley brought the team back to the U SPORTS National Championship after failing to qualify in 2016. This run included a dominant 38-10 consolation semi-final victory over Acadia University.

Valley was previously the head coach of the Rugby Canada U18 Women's 15's program, as well as the Technical Lead for the Canada 7's NextGen program in Ontario. This past May, Valley was named as an assistant coach with the Canadian Senior Women's Rugby team as well as a co-lead for Ontario.

The Gaels return with a talented lineup led by Nadia Popov and Sophie de Goede. Entering her fourth season as a Gael, Nadia Popov is a threat to score in every game she plays in. The former OUA Rookie of the Year and U SPORTS All-Canadian scored a try in every game she played in last season. This included a three-game stretch in the playoffs where she tallied five tries and six conversions to lead the playoffs in scoring.

Sophie de Goede had a standout rookie campaign taking home the OUA Rookie of the Year while leading the Gaels in scoring. She played a massive role in the Gaels playoff run including a monster four-try game in the OUA quarterfinal against Trent.

However, the team will be without 2016 and 2017 U SPORTS All-Canadian and OUA All-Star McKinley Hunt. She has been a key fixture on the Gaels' back row in recent years but a torn ACL suffered at the Canadian National Team's East Camp will keep her on the sidelines for the entire 2018 season.  

Despite the injury, one of the Gaels strength will be their depth throughout their lineup. OUA All-Star Kara Gani returns for her fourth season as a Gael. Dominique Rumball and Rachel Hickson recently represented Canada's U20 team that competed at the Tri-Nations Cup and will play key roles on the Gaels' upcoming season. They were joined by Sophie de Goede and one of the Gaels' newest recruits Celia Martensson.

With top-end talent and a wealth of depth the Gaels will be looking to make the conference playoffs for the 14^th consecutive season and grab their first U SPORTS medal since 2015.
  
Quote from the Head Coach:
"We are very excited about the 2018 campaign – much like last year, our focus is internal – focusing on ourselves every day and continuing to establish the identity of Queen's Rugby as a gritty, hard-nosed program that is exceptionally difficult to play against all the time," said head coach Dan Valley. "There are no easy fixtures in our schedule, so our intention is to take things one week at a time and continue that process of incremental improvement every week."
 
Key Returnees:
Nadia Popov
Sophie de Goede
Dominique Rumball
Rachel Hickson
Hannah Daniels

 
Key Losses:
Lauren Murray
Jordi di Nardo
Janna Slevinsky
Molly Labenski
Erin Geddes