Nixon Field’s turf is new, but the Queen’s women’s rugby team could argue that the scoreboard still can’t keep up with how much they score.
On Saturday afternoon, the Gaels blanked the York University Lions in a 160-0 rout. The win set the tone for the season, as Queen’s chases a sixth-straight undefeated regular season—and are showing no signs of slowing down.
From start to finish, Queen’s never let up—piling 82 points in the first half and another 78 points in the second. The final tally was so high the Nixon Field scoreboard could only show the last two digits.
Leading the charge was 2022 U Sports Rugby Player of the Year Lizzie Gibson, M.PL. ’26, who racked up three tries and an astounding 20 conversions. She was joined by Kyleigh Chandran, Kin ’27, and Maddy May, MSc ’26, who each powered in 4 tries. First-year Salomé Lapp, ArtSci ’29, added a debut hat trick to cap off the offensive onslaught.
Reigning U Sports Women’s Rugby Rookie of the Year, Kennedi Stevenson, ArtSci ’28, silenced any talk of a sophomore slump with two tries, matched by Maxie Grant, ArtSci ’26. Jayne Armatage, ArtSci ’27, Michaela Cormier, ConEd ’27, Stephanie Douglas, ArtSci ’28, Guinevere O’Hara, BAF ’27, Elyse Saddington, ArtSci ’28, and Riley Stone, ConEd ’28, each crossed the line for a try to round out the scoring frenzy.
Head Coach Dan Valley said he was impressed with the team’s focus despite the lopsided score. “Games that get out of hand can become individual efforts,” he said in an interview with The Journal. “I thought we did a nice job staying true to the collective mission for 80 minutes.”
Since 2009, the Gaels have amassed a 16-0 record against the Lions in women’s rugby. Yet, even after another dominant win, Valley was quick to credit his opponents. “I’ve an incredible amount of respect for York,” he said. “They kept coming with absolutely everything they’ve had for the entire 80 minutes.”
The win only cements the Gaels’ ranking as the top women’s rugby team in U Sports, a nod given to them before they even played a game this year. The Gaels previously made the trip to Toronto for their season opener on Aug. 29, but the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues decided to forfeit for undisclosed reasons.
For Valley, he’s more than prepared to leave a game like this in the rearview mirror and stay focused on what’s to come. “Matches like that are always a bit of a challenge […] we don’t train to get into 160–0 blowouts,” Valley said. “We train to be ready for the types of matches we’ve got coming up this weekend.”
The Gaels will face the Guelph Gryphons next week in what’s sure to be a more closely contested battle. Guelph defeated Queen’s in the OUA Championship finals at the last second last year and is once again primed to be a top program in U Sports.
Gaels can catch the game at 2:00 p.m. at Nixon Field on Sept. 13.
Tags
Dan Valley, Kennedi Stevenson, Kyleigh Chandran, Lizzie Gibson, Maddy May, Women's rugby, York Lions
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