Queen's Fastpitch won the Ontario University Softball Championship, Women's Lacrosse won the OUA Championship, Men's Lacrosse finished their regular season on an undefeated run, and more in the Varsity Clubs Weekend Recap.

Fastpitch

Queen's Fastpitch travelled to Waterloo, Ont. for the OUS Championship this past weekend. The team opened the weekend with two wins, defeating the host Laurier Golden Hawks in a tight game, 7-6, before beating the Brock Badgers comfortably, 10-3.

The two wins advanced the Gaels to the Undefeated Game on Sunday, where they would drop their only game of the weekend, 9-2 to the Western Mustangs.

After an 8-6 win over the Badgers in the 2v3 games, Queen's got their second shot at Western in the Championship Game. The Gaels edged the Mustangs in a low scoring affair, 3-2, to capture teh OUS Championship.

Sarah Van Den Heuvel was named the Most Valuable Player in the Championship Game.



Women's Lacrosse

Queen's Women's Lacrosse captured the OUA Championship in Toronto, Ont. this past weekend. Read more about the Gaels' championship win here.

The Gaels also swept the major awards, with Jaedyn Smail was named the Most Valuable Offensive Player, Kiely Howe was named the Most Valuable Defender, Tara Meikle was named the Rookie of the Year, and Mike Watson was named the Coach of the Year. Smail, Howe, and Meikle were also all named OUA All-Stars.

Men's Lacrosse

Queen's Men's Lacrosse came out rolling this past Saturday, looking to secure home field advantage for a playoff game, with two must win games to make that happen on the schedule.
 
First up were the McGill Redbirds, who previously held a 24-0 series lead over us. The Gaels got off to a quick start and led 3-1 after the first quarter, and kept that momentum into the second quarter to finish the first half with a 5-4 lead. McGill got two quick goals in the third quarter to put them up 6-5 but with no quit in the Gaels, they rattled off six goals in a row with the run going into the final quarter to put them up 11-6. Queen's eventually finished the game with a 13-7 win, the first win in program history over the Redbirds and snapping a 24-game losing streak against them.

The Gaels were powered by Quinton Greenfield, who stepped up big in net making timely key stops to keep the momentum for Queen's. Offensively, Queen's was led by senior midfielder Carter McKenzie with two goals and four assists as well as senior attacker Curtis Plante, who posted two goals and two assists. It was an all-around team effort for the big win.
 
Sunday saw the Gaels match up against the Ottawa Gee-Gees in another must-win game to secure home field advantage for playoffs. The team rattled off five goals in the first quarter to take a 5-0 lead, and while a sloppy second quarter by Queen's saw the score go to 8-3 at half time, the Gaeuls quickly redeemed themselves, taking a 14-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Queen's won the fourth quarter 5-2 to finish the game 19-7. All 35 players dressed saw action in the game with two players scoring their first collegiate goals in David Wood and Noah Wedgbury. 

Overall it was a great weekend for Queen's Men's Lacrosse and the Gaels will host McGill Friday, Oct. 28 under the lights on homecoming weekend at Miklas-MacCarney Field at 7:30 p.m.


Fencing



Queen's University welcomed 212 fencers in six senior events at the 2022 Queen's Hugh Munby Fencing Tournament on Oct 22-23 at the Queen's Athletics & Recreation Centre.
 
Queen's won Gold in Men's Sabre with Men's Sabre captain Alex Sun coming in first, defeating Carleton's Daniel Manyoki 15-13 in Saturday's events. It is the second time Sun won the event as he also captured gold at the inaugural tournament in 2019.
 
On Sunday, Cameron Hostetler Keates, Queen's Men's Foil captain won the bronze medal in the Men's Foil event.
 
Queen's had a number of top 16 finishes, including:



Senior Men's Sabre
5th - Luke Steverango
6th - Filbert Yung
 
Senior Women's Foil
10th - Nancy Chua
12th - Wendy Li
12th - Kelachi Nsitem
14th - Rumsha Siddiqui
15th - Hannah Bryan
 
Senior Men Foil
7th - Sam Broughton
10th - Ewan Peterson
14th - Ben Laurin
16th - Daniel Rastin
 
Senior Women's Epee
13th - Courtney Bannerman
 
Queen's Fencing competes next on Nov. 5-6 at the RMC Team Fencing Invitational.

Men's Squash

Queen's Men's Squash hosted the first East Sectional of the season in the Jesters University Squash League, hosting the Ottawa Gee-Gees and McGill Redbirds. Queen's prevailed over Ottawa in their first encounter 5-2, before losing a close match-up against McGill 4-3. Top performers for Queen's were Salah Elsherif and Evan Ball, who won both of their matches.

The Gaels' next event is the first Jesters Crossover Tournament, hosted by Queen's from November 5-6.



Women's Squash

Queen's Women's Squash competed in their first sectional of the season on home courts this past weekend. The women defeated Ottawa 7-0 and McGill 6-1. Maddie O'Connor (Toronto, Ont.) made her first debut as a Gael and won both her matches without dropping a game. Heather McLachlan (St. Catharines, Ont.) and Marlow Benson (Caledon, Ont.) played positions 2 and 3 for the Gaels, while Maddy Fisher (Toronto, Ont.) and Abby Brewer played positions 4 and 5. The Gaels also featured two rookies including Leanne Ouellette (Toronto, Ont.) and Felicite Gesp (France).

Head coach Lisa Coates was a huge help again for Queen's, bringing high energy and providing advice and feedback after watching every player.