Queen’s and Western’s historic rivalry took to the field—and Western was outmatched.
Playing at home on Nixon Field, the Queen’s women’s rugby team stormed past the Western University Mustangs 80-3 on Saturday evening, closing out their home schedule with a performance that underlined both their depth and dominance.
The game was Queen’s Seniors’ Night, with 14 players from the program’s graduating class recognized before kickoff. It didn’t take long for the Gaels to show they weren’t going to let the occasion slip. Just five minutes in, Maddy May, MSc ’26, powered over for the opening try, and veteran kicker Lizzie Gibson, M.PL. ’26, added the conversion to make it 7-0.
From there, Queen’s hardly looked back. Mika Matsukubo, HealthSci ’26 turned on the jets for a second try, and while Western briefly responded with a penalty kick, those were the only points the Mustangs would manage all night. Queen’s quickly reasserted control through back-to-back tries from Kennedi Stevenson, ArtSci ’28. Madison Donnelly, ArtSci ’26 and Matsukubo linked up for a slick passing sequence to set up another try before halftime, and Stevenson closed the opening frame with a 56-yard solo run that gave the Gaels a commanding 38-3 cushion.
The Gaels didn’t slow down in the second half, blanking Western the rest of the way while piling on six more tries. Madison Jumeau, MSc ’27, scored a try, and Gibson added three of her own. Donnelly grabbed a second, and Stevenson capped off her career night with a whopping four tries. Gibson paired her hat trick with a great kicking performance, finishing 10-for-12 on conversions and bringing her personal tally to 25 points.
When the final whistle blew, the Gaels had put 80 points on the board, crushing their rivals and cementing their undefeated record at 5-0-0. The game served as an emphatic farewell in front of their home crowd, while also serving as a show of strength of what’s to come when the playoffs run this October. The Gaels exit the matchup retaining their first-place ranking in U Sports, establishing themselves as the ones to beat in Canada.
Queen’s now turns its attention to its regular season finale on the road against McMaster University Marauders on Oct 4.
Tags
Mustangs, Nixon Field, Queen's Seniors' Night, rugby, Western
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