The Gaels overpowered the Marauders on Saturday afternoon with a confident 73-7 win on Nixon Field. Queen's displayed their depth with 11 tries coming from 10 different players, as well as a strong performance from fourth year Marcus D'Acre (Economics), who made 9 out of 11 conversions.
Queen's came into the first half with dominant power and composure, scoring three tries in the first 10 minutes. The first three tries came from Cameron Bubyn (Computer Science), Briar Barron (Faculty of Applied Science), and Owen Lee (Commerce). D'Acre made the convert for all three, bringing the Gaels to a 21-0 lead early on. The home team's momentum did not stop there, as they scored three more unanswered tries from Gabriel Ricci (Nursing), Trekker James (Psychology), and Benjamin Falkner (Arts & Science) before the 20-minute mark. The Gaels demonstrated their speed and agility, making impressive runs and passing sequences as they weaved through the Marauders' defense. Queen's scored two more tries before the end of the first half, coming from Sterling Seunarine (School of Business) and James, for a total of eight tries in the first 40 minutes of play.
The Gaels settled in for the second half, as they sat at a comfortable 52-0 lead. McMaster was able to generate some momentum, however, Queen's stood strong with their defensive line, making big tackles wherever the Marauders tried to break through. Noah Gittens (Kinesiology) scored the Gaels' ninth try of the game in the 53rd minute, with D'Acre kicking another convert. Both teams made runs back and forth, but the tackles were relentless, making the game scoreless for 18 minutes. Queen's came through with their 10th try of the game by second year Beck Paspalas (Kinesiology), with D'Acre making the convert and bringing the score to 66-0. The Marauders posted their first point of the game in the 75th minute, denying the Gaels a clean score sheet, with a try and conversion for seven points. The Gaels closed the game off with their 11th try in the last minute of play coming from D'Acre, who also kicked to convert the try, finishing with a score of 73-7.
The Gaels extend their win streak to three and will look forward to playing the Western Mustangs on the road on October 4th.
