Excitement is building in Jock Harty Arena as the 2005-06 men’s hockey team takes shape. The roster will be similar to the one that missed the playoffs last season having lost seven players to graduation, but will have some new additions and—perhaps most exciting of all—a new look behind the bench.

As a fitting tribute to former soccer Gael Greg Hulse, his teammates came up big on Sunday with a 4-1 win over the RMC Paladins, extending their unbeaten run to 3-0-1 to start the season. Just three minutes into the game, Jeremy Armstrong sent a left foot blast from outside the 18-yard box into the top right corner, giving the Gaels an early 1-0 lead. It was Armstrong’s first goal of this regular season, his first season back after a stint as the Gaels’ head coach last season.

The Golden Gaels football team was hoping to give the huge Homecoming crowd something to cheer about against Ottawa on Saturday, but came up well short.

Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams saw their first action this weekend, with strong results. The men’s squad defeated their McMaster counterparts, and the women’s side emerged from five short games with a 4-1 record.
Despite losing some important players from last year’s team, the men’s side dispatched McMaster by a score of 9-6.

The men’s rugby team bagged their second OUA win of the season Saturday, defeating the Carleton Ravens 24-5. Playing to a packed crowd at Kingston Field, the Gaels surged to an early lead in the first half with four tries. However they were dogged by penalties, and were held to a stalemate by Carleton in the scoreless second half.

With a convincing win against a Perth club team Sunday afternoon, the Queen’s women’s hockey team found their legs after a long summer off. The team, which has a noticeably different look from last season, had barely been acquainted before donning the tricolour to begin the exhibition portion of their season.

Queen’s women’s field hockey team got off to an excellent start at the University of Toronto Invitational tournament over the weekend. In its first test of the season, the women’s team went undefeated in a tournament that pitted it against competitive squads from Toronto, Carleton and Waterloo.

The Queen’s Golden Gaels men’s and women’s soccer teams began their respective seasons solidly last weekend. Each team took home four points from their Southwestern Ontario road trip to Western and Windsor.
The women’s soccer team began the weekend on Saturday with a 1-1 draw against the Western Mustangs. The two teams met in last year’s OUA final, which Western won.

For years, rower Morgan Jarvis’ goal was to sit in the stroke seat for the senior national team’s quad crew.
This summer, Jarvis, Art Sci ’05, found himself not only in that seat, but leading the crew to a bronze medal at the World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan.

The Queen’s baseball team, last year’s Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association champions, opened their season by playing .500 ball over four weekend games.
The Gaels won the first game and lost the second in each of two doubleheaders against their conference rivals, facing Durham College in Oshawa on Saturday and York University at home on Sunday.

The Golden Gaels football team honoured a fallen teammate on Saturday by decisively winning a game in his name. The Gaels began their contest against the York Lions on a somber note, after a ceremony dedicated the game to teammate Justin Schwieg, who was killed last March in an unprovoked attack at A.J.’s Hangar.

The Athletic Information Night, which allows students from all disciplines and years a chance to sign up for intramural teams, takes place Tuesday, Sept. 13 from 5-7 p.m. in Bartlett Gym in the Physical Education Centre (PEC).

During the first weeks of September, it’s wonderful to be a Queen’s student. The streets of the Ghetto are littered with upper-year students eagerly returning to their sub-standard shacks.
Frisbees soar once again, rugged couches reappear on rotting porches, and friends torn apart by the insurmountable separation of summer rekindle their bonds in drunken reunions—“You’re the best, dude. No, seriously I love you.” In the background familiar war songs rise to a rousing crescendo, as unsure frosh begin to feel a part of the famous Queen’s spirit.

After a disappointing semi-final loss to Western in last year’s OUA playoffs, the Queen’s men’s rugby team is set to rebound with a strong 2005-2006 season. The team capped off a four-day training camp by winning both divisions in the inaugural Dartmouth Invitational tournament in New Hampshire this past weekend.

Weeks before most Queen’s students start thinking about going back to the hustle and bustle of Kingston, more than one hundred football players varying in talent and size participate in Queen’s football training camp.

The Gaels football squad wasn’t pleased to break a five-year old team record in their Labour Day season opener against the defending OUA champion Laurier Golden Hawks. The team was shut out for the first time since the 2000 season, falling 45-0.