The Gaels football team are looking to keep the good times rolling, as they aim to bring the fun to Kingston this weekend.
Queen’s football is set to host the York University Lions on Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. ET. The Lions are 2-2, coming off a high-scoring loss at home to the Carleton Ravens, and will be hungry coming to Richardson Stadium, hoping to get back in the win column.
The Gaels come into this matchup riding a high, having won back-to-back games on the road, both by sizeable margins. They’ve now come back home, looking for their first win on their own turf this season. Queen’s will have to do so without their leading tackler Justin Pace, ArtSci ’26, who’ll be serving a one-game suspension following a hard collision with Waterloo Warriors quarterback Nick Orr.
READ MORE: Queen’s football crash party at Waterloo Homecoming, win 58-18
Nonetheless, the Gaels are focusing on task at hand this week, which is the matchup against the York Lions. In a media availability, Head Coach Steve Snyder underlined the importance of respecting your opponent every week. “We’ve the utmost respect for the York coaching staff, who have recruited some talented players” Snyder said.
However, Snyder shifted the focus saying that his football team has a “major focus on progression and incremental improvement that our players have intent to stick to the plan.” The Gaels come into this game as the eighth best team in the country, according to the U SPORTS Rankings as of Sept. 22.
In the same media availability, Ashton Miller-Melancon, ArtSci ’26, reiterated Snyder’s thoughts going into the game against York. “It really comes down to us being locked in on our preparation and doing our job out there,” said Miller-Melancon.
When asked about dealing with hardship, such as Pace’s suspension this week, Miller-Melancon expressed gratitude for having so many veterans on the defence. “We have a lot of fifth-year guys that have experienced a lot, that can help us stay steady and translate to the rest of the team.”
Both the Queen’s offense and defence will have their hands full, with York quarterback Keagan Hall ranking third in the OUA in completion percentage and his offense scoring the fifth most points per game in the OUA. The Queen’s offense ranks second in Ontario in points per game, whereas York has allowed 143 points over four games, putting them fifth last in the OUA.
The Gaels will look to improve on their winning streak and keep the momentum as playoffs looms in the distance.
Tags
Ashton Miller-Melancon, Justin Pace, Nick Orr, Steve Snyder, York Lions
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.