The men’s ultimate team has claimed yet another national championship.
From Oct. 17-18, the Queen’s Men’s Ultimate Frisbee team competed in the Canadian University Ultimate Championships (CUUC) in Brampton. The Gaels ultimately came out on top, beating the Ottawa GeeGees by a score of 12-9 in the gold medal game to claim the national championship.
With their seventh national title, Queen’s Men’s Ultimate is now the most decorated university ultimate program in Canada.
The team qualified for nationals when they advanced to the provincial finals at the Canadian Ontario University Ultimate Championships (COUUC). Similarly, the Gaels also beat the GeeGees in the final to claim their 12th straight provincial championship.
The team had three games against pool opponents on Oct. 17 to open their tournament. They doubled up on the Ottawa GeeGees by a score of 14-7 and then beat the Memorial Sea-Hawks 15-7. They closed out their day by beating the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds by a score of 13-8 to go undefeated and finish first in their pool.
That set up a quarter-final matchup the following day against the University of Manitoba Bisons, who the Gaels cruised past, winning 14-6.
In a statement to The Journal, head coach of the men’s ultimate frisbee team Pete Galbraith said that the team scored at a 94 per cent rate when they had possession and “easily outclassed opponents” during the first four games of the tournament.
However, their semifinal matchup a few hours later against the McGill Redbirds was not as smooth. They went down 3-0 early in the contest but were able to battle back with four straight goals, eventually squeaking out a narrow 9-7 victory.
According to Galbraith, the victory over the Redbirds was the Gaels’ first in six contests.
That led them to another date with the GeeGees with a national championship on the line.
The first half was pretty evenly played, with each team trading points until Queen’s was able to grab two consecutive goals and an 8-6 lead into halftime.
After a quick goal from the Gaels coming out of halftime, the GeeGees began to build momentum, cutting the deficit to 9-8. The team was able to calm things down and close the game out, finishing the match with a goal to make it a final score of 12-9 for Queen’s.
“It was truly a team effort as every Gael had a goal or an assist through the weekend,” Galbraith said.
After the final goal, the Gaels rejoiced in the endzone in celebration of yet another national championship for the program
Dax Miller, ArtSci ’27, led his team at Nationals with 12 goals, eight assists, and six blocks, winning the finals Most Valuable Player for his performance. Miller has been a prominent player and leader on the men’s ultimate team for his duration at Queen’s.
The national title is the fifth under Galbraith’s tenure as head coach, helping them become the most dominant university ultimate program in the nation.
“I’m incredibly proud of this squad and what they’ve achieved,” he said.
Tags
Men's Ultimate, national championship
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