The Queen's Gaels kicked off their 2024-25 regular season in front of a packed home crowd at the Memorial Centre but fell 2-1 in a hard-fought battle against the Guelph Gryphons. Despite relentless offensive pressure and a strong performance from goaltender Emma Tennant (Applied Science), Queen's couldn't complete the comeback.

The Gaels, coming off a 15-13 season, looked eager to make a statement early. They controlled the pace of play, spending much of the opening minutes in the Guelph zone. First-year standout Sienna Bullen (Commerce) nearly opened the scoring with a rocket off the post late in the first period, but it was Guelph who struck first.  A miscommunication on the power play led to a breakaway for Alexie Olivier of Guelph, who netted a shorthanded goal to put the Gryphons up 1-0 after 20 minutes.

The second period saw more of the same from Queen's, who struggled to convert on their power-play opportunities. Defenseman Sophie Hudson (Arts & Science) drew two penalties for the Gaels, but Guelph again capitalized on a Queen's miscue. Jaime Magoffin of Guelph buried a second shorthanded goal after a failed line change by the Gaels. Despite some great chances, including a near-goal from forward Alysia Grotsky, who had a brilliant move around a defender only to ring the crossbar, Queen's went into the third down 2-0.

The Gaels finally broke through in the third period, as Melissa Parton scored a beautiful wraparound goal at 13:45, outwaiting Guelph's netminder to tuck the puck in. With the momentum swinging their way, Queen's ramped up the pressure but were derailed by untimely penalties, including a late cross-checking call on Sara Di Filippo (Arts & Science).

Despite the final score, the Gaels showed promising signs for the season ahead. Their ability to create scoring chances and control the puck for long stretches of the game, particularly from the blue line, points to a team with the potential to bounce back quickly. With standout performances from key players like Bullen and solid goaltending from Tennant, Queen's will look to build on this game and clean up the small mistakes that made the difference on the scoreboard.