After a tough loss in their season opener, men’s soccer is in the win column for the first time this year.

The Gaels blanked the Trent Excalibur 2-0 on Sunday to move their record to 1-1-0 on the year — a major step forward after losing 2-0 to the Carleton Ravens last Wednesday.

“We definitely saw a lot of positives today, in comparison to [the game against] Carleton,” head coach Chris Gencarelli said. “Overall, I thought we tried to keep the ball a lot more on the ground and when we were able to do that we were much more successful.”

Queen’s took the lead in the sixth minute against Trent, when midfielder Andrew Martin took a pass from striker Tommy Hong and buried the ball from six yards out, netting the team’s first goal of the season.

“Obviously having not scored against Carleton, it was important for us to score early,” Gencarelli said. “It was nice to get that early goal against Trent.”

After taking the lead, the Gaels were pressured by the Trent attack, with the Excalibur having several chances to tie the game up.

Goalkeeper Dylan Maxwell stood tall in net for the Gaels, stopping all 10 shots he faced for the clean sheet.

The Gaels put the game away with a 75th-minute tally from midfielder William Twardek, with the second-year putting the ball into the net off the post.

“[Maxwell] came up with a couple big saves to preserve the lead,” Gencarelli said, “which allowed us to score the second goal.”

The Gaels will look to stay in the win column this weekend when they travel to face the Laurentian Voyageurs (2-1-1) and Nipissing Lakers (1-3-0).