Despite a challenging schedule, cheers boomed at Kingston Field on Sunday as the Queen’s women’s lacrosse team finished their regular season with three games in two days.
Following an 8-7 loss to the Western Mustangs on Saturday, the Gaels refueled overnight and dominated the Guelph Gryphons 13-4 and McGill Redmen 17-9 on Sunday. The Gaels went into the weekend ranking fourth in the OUA, but managed to leapfrog the Laurier Golden Hawks on points and Western on goal-difference for a second-place seed.
Gaels’ head coach Pat Bolland said he was satisfied with the play of the entire team, attributing the success to his team’s depth.
“We’ve had such a balanced scoring team. … In [the McGill] game we had 10 different scorers,” Bolland said. “I thought our defence was exemplary.”
Attack Jacqueline Byers scored five goals and assisted another four during the weekend to achieve a season-total of 44 points, tying McGill’s Jacqueline Millette for fifth place in OUA scoring. Midfielder Lisa McLaughlin’s four goals and three assists from the weekend brought her tally to 37 points, tied for seventh place in OUA scoring.
The women will have one week to prepare before they face the third-place Western Mustangs in Hamilton this weekend. In preparation for what’s expected to be a fast game, Bolland said the transition game will be a focus during the week of practice.
“The girls will work on their transitions, in terms of moving the ball up the field,” he said.
Fourth-year defender Martha Ross made the greatest impression over the weekend, scoring eight goals for Queen’s during the three games. Ross scored a hat trick early Sunday morning against the Gryphons and shredded McGill’s defence, placing four more goals on the board for Queen’s Sunday afternoon. Ross, who has played lacrosse for eight years, said the Gaels need to be cool under pressure.
“We need to increase our performance under pressure,” she said. “I think we need the leaders on the team to just step up and slow things back down.”
The Gaels’ will try to outdo last year’s second-place finish next weekend at McMaster University for the OUA Championships.
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