It was a weekend with mixed results for the Gaels.
The Queen’s Women’s Soccer team played two games on the road this weekend. The first game saw them losing to the Nipissing Lakers by a score of 2-1 on Oct. 3, before they rebounded with a 1-0 win against the Laurentian Voyageurs on Oct. 4.
First on the weekend slate was a game against the second-place Nipissing Lakers.
The match did not start well for the Gaels, as an early mistake on a clearing attempt led to a Lakers’ goal just a couple minutes in.
The next twenty minutes were evenly played with each team not getting many scoring chances. The Gaels had a dangerous scoring chance at the 22-minute mark with a shot from just outside the six-yard box, but the subsequent shot was saved.
Queen’s had their best scoring chance just before the first half ended when a cross came right into the box to one of their players, but the shot rang off the crossbar to keep the Lakers in front into halftime.
Like the first half, the start of the second half saw the teams being limited to few scoring chances. However, the Gaels would finally pull even at the 65th minute when Sam Caputo, HealthSci ’28, redirected a cross into the left side of the net to tie the game at one.
But the team wasn’t able to build on the momentum, as the rest of the game saw Nipissing in control with the majority of the scoring chances and possession. The dam would eventually break for the Gaels, with all the pressure leading to a goal for the Lakers to put them back in front at the 83rd minute.
Queen’s was unable to generate any high danger scoring chances for the rest of the game and ended up dropping the match by a score of 2-1.
The team had a chance to rebound the next day on Oct. 4 when they faced the Laurentian Voyageurs in Sudbury. The two teams played against each other last week at Richardson Stadium, where the Gaels won 2-0.
READ MORE: Queen’s Soccer goes unbeaten against Laurentian
Much like the first game against the Voyageurs, the Gaels came out strong and controlled the pace of play for the first twenty minutes. Despite playing in Laurentian’s end for most of the first half, the team couldn’t find the back of the net and went into halftime in a scoreless tie.
The second half was more evenly played, with both sides creating a couple scoring chances in an attempt to break the deadlock. The Gaels came close when they rang a shot off the left post around the 80th minute and continued pushing to grab that elusive first goal.
The goal would finally come for the team late in the game. After a superhuman effort from Lily Coish, ArtSci ’27, which saw her deke past multiple defenders before passing the ball across the box, Evelyn McCabe, ArtSci ’30, tapped in the pass to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead at the 86th minute.
With not much time left, Queen’s shut things down the rest of the way and emerged victorious with a 1-0 victory over Laurentian.
The win and the loss gives the Gaels a 5-3-2 record and 17 points, which is good for fourth place in the Eastern Conference in the OUA standings. The three teams above them (Ottawa, Nipissing, and Toronto) are the Gaels’ three losses this year.
The team will play two more games to close out their regular season. They’ll play the last-place Trent Excalibur in Peterborough this upcoming Friday on Oct. 9 before closing out their season against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks in their annual Homecoming game on Oct. 18.
The OUA playoffs will begin on Oct. 21. The Gaels will need a top six spot in the conference to make the playoffs.
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