On opposite sides of the province, the Men’s and Women’s Rugby teams received different results when faced with their respective mid-season tests.
The Men’s Rugby team travelled to Guelph, ON, on Sept. 14 to face off against the Gryphons, losing a hard-fought 31-35 battle. Meanwhile, on Nixon Field, the Women’s Rugby team kept their momentum going, sending the University of Toronto Blues home with an 89-0 defeat.
Men’s Rugby
In just their second game of the season, the Gaels faced what will likely be their most formidable challenge within the OUA, the Guelph Gryphons.
The Gryphons, who won an OUA championship last season, gave our Gaels a lot of room to dominate this game. The Gaels took a commanding 21-0 lead within the first 15 minutes of the match.
Coupled with tries from Cameron Bubyn, CompSci ’26, Ben Greenstein, ArtSci ’27, and Eric Godden Sci ’25, conversions from Marcus D’Acre, ArtSci ’26, as well as a penalty kick from the D’Acre, saw Queen’s up 24-7 just 25 minutes into the first half.
While it was shaping up to be a monumental win for the Gaels, having lost three straight matches against the Gryphons, the defending champs refused to go down without a fight.
Before the start of the second half, the Gryphons mounted a massive comeback, scoring three straight tries, then icing the Gaels by sealing the game 28-31 in the 73rd minute of the gigantic matchup.
The Men’s team will look to rebound on Sept. 22 in Waterloo, ON, where they’ll kick off against the Warriors.
Women’s Rugby
The Women’s Rugby team had far more success than the Men’s team, defeating the U of T Blues on home soil by a score of 89-0, their second-greatest point differential of the season.
Nixon Field was packed on Sept. 14 to watch the Gaels continue to string dominant performances together, and this matchup was no letdown.
The Gaels got off to a scorching hot start, with Jordan Schneppenheim, ArtSci ’27, Madi Thompson, ArtSci ’26, Maxie Grant, ArtSci ’25, and Mika Matsukubo, HealthSci ’25, all scoring tries in just the first 10 minutes of the game.
With Lizzie Gibson, ArtSci ’25, adding a conversion to the tally, the Gaels led by a 22-point margin to start the game.
By the time the first half had ended, the Gaels had added four additional tries from Grant, Olivia Dibua, ArtSci ’27, with two of those tries coming from Guinevere O’Hara, ArtSci ’27. Alongside three conversions, the Gaels brought the score up to 46-0 at the end of the first half.
The second half of play showed little change from the Gaels, with seven more tries being added to the Gaels’ already monstrous lead.
The second-half contributors were O’Hara and Grant, who both added their third tries of the game, Matsukubo, Maia Swemmer, ArtSci ’26, Jayne Armatage, ArtSci ’26, Sara Hardy, Nurs ’26, and Robyn Baker, ArtSci ’27, with Gibson adding eight more points from her conversions.
In their biggest test of the season, the Women’s Rugby team will take to the pitch next on Sept. 21 against the Guelph Gryphons.
Tags
Guelph Gryphons, Men's rugby, U of T, Women's rugby
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