KINGSTON, Ont. (Jan. 14, 2023) - Queen's Women's Hockey played the second game of a doubleheader against the Toronto Varsity Blues Saturday at the Memorial Centre. After a 5-2 loss on Friday, the Gaels competed closely with the Varsity Blues, and after a strongly played game, Queen's fell 3-2 to Toronto.
 
At the beginning of the first period, Olivia Hilton popped a goal in just a minute and a half into the start of the game, giving the Varsity Blues a 1-0 lead for the majority of the first.
 
After a strong fight from the Gaels, Queen's followed the Varsity Blues and scored a goal in the last minute of the first, a great play by Emma Michalicka, who passed it to Rebecca Thompson for a goal to tie up the game.
 
With two minutes left in the second period, Sophie Hudson stuck one in the back of Toronto's net during a great play behind the net from Alyson Reeves to give Queen's a 2-1 lead.
 
Just thirty seconds later, the Varisty Blues came back with a goal by Natasha Athanaskos, to lead the teams to a 2-2 score at the end of the second.
 
The third period started with a Toronto goal by Kaitlyn McKnight three minutes into the frame,
assisted by Kalie Chan and Emma Potter. Queen's had a close goal attempt three minutes later but was deemed no goal by the ref as it had gone in after the whistle.
 
Lexi Giorgi finished the game with 28 saves on 31 shots on net.
 
Gaels' head coach Matt Holmberg stated that while the weekend did not stand out in points, but the outcome of the games showed that Gaels can compete with any team in the country.
 
With the 3-2 loss against Toronto, Queen's record fell to 3-7-4-4 and they sit in third place in the OUA East standings.