It’s been just under two months removed since the Queens Men’s football team season came to an end and the excitement from the gridiron continues.
A successful season by all accounts, including their first yates cup since 2009 and Mitchell Bowl appearance, where they lost a close battle with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Head coach Steve Snyder sat down with The Journal to reflect on the teams triumphant 2025 season.
From the start of their season, the Gaels were poised to be one of the top teams in the country, with many returning veteran players, coupling that with what Snyder called “a great summer and great training camp.” He doubled down on this fact saying, “ I think we were as ready to execute at a high level in week one as we ever have since I’ve been here.”
Unfortunately, the hard work didn’t lead to immediate success including a heartbreaking quadruple overtime loss to Western in week one and a week three loss to Laurier both being at home. Snyder emphasized despite the losses “everybody rebounded, we were very resilient.”
After the Laurier loss, the team rattled off 4 straight wins including three of them on the road. Snyder acknowledged “they could’ve got distracted with stuff (outside noise), they channelled into what we were doing and put a heck a run together.” The winning streak secured them a playoff spot into the OUA playoffs, with one game left in the season.
Adversity struck again for this team after another devastating homecoming loss to Windsor in the final game of the season. Snyder admitted Windsor has had their number in the regular season over the past couple of years; however, this particular loss this year galvanized their team together.
“We weren’t as physical as we needed to be; they (the players) definitely said never again.” With the loss, it set them up for a first-round matchup with McMaster at home, which they won and a rematch versus Windsor in Windsor, where they defeated the Lancers by a score of 36-25.
With the Yates Cup in sight, Laurier was the only team between them and the coveted trophy. “Our team wholeheartedly believed we were going to win”, Snyder said. The team proved that in the game, flying out to a 17-3 lead in the first half and taking control of the game and ultimately winning the prize they’ve strived for all season long.
The Mitchell bowl was a tight ultimately ended in the Saskatchewan Huskies’ favour. When asked about the game itself, Snyder commented on how good a football team the Huskies are. “They have a bunch of good players, they’re well coached and really disciplined.” But also acknowledged how close his team was, saying “we had our chances, it was two pretty evenly matched teams it felt like.”
Despite the loss, it doesn’t take away from the incredible season that the Gaels accomplished. When asked for his reflections on the season, Snyder highlighted his gratefulness not only to his players, personnel, but the student body and fans. “This is for everybody who believes in us and has our back.”
Next season will feature more new faces; however, Snyder assured that they’ll be a “hungry and talented team” going into a new year where nothing carries over.
Tags
Football, Head coach Steve Snyder, Mitchell Bowl, Yates Cup
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