The women’s soccer team showed no signs of discouragement after last weekend’s loss, earning two convincing victories over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues (4-5-2) and Ryerson Rams (2-4-5) this past weekend.

On Saturday, the Gaels travelled to Toronto to take on Ryerson. In the game, Queen’s uncharacteristically trailed their opponents for the majority of the match. They conceded an early goal to the Rams 25 minutes in and failed to equalize before the half. 

The team eventually worked their way past a talented Ryerson defense by way of forward Jenny Wolever, who fired a goal past the Rams with 12 minutes left in the second half. 

Wolever then added another goal to her tally before forward Christie Grey took a third for the Gaels, securing a crucial 3-1 away win.

Queen’s returned home on Sunday to defeat U of T at Richardson Stadium, and left little room for doubt, scoring early and often. 

Wolever—an OUA Second-Team All-Star last season—sped past the Blues defense and slotted the first goal eight minutes in, before Grey found the back of the net from a header before the 20-minute mark. Wolever went on to score her 10th goal of the year late into the second half.  

Kelsie McGinn made the final goal, leaving the tricolour team with a resounding 4-0 victory.

“Six points was the goal of the weekend, so I thought that was really important,” head coach Dave McDowell said of his team’s win over U of T. “[Ryerson] was a tougher game away from home, and then to come home today and deal with back-to-back [games] in two different cities, I thought we did really well.”

McDowell noted the contributions of Wolever, who scored four on the weekend and now sits tied for most goals in the OUA. 

“She’s so dynamic, and one of the best players in the country. From a standpoint of creating chances … we know that if we can give her the ball, something good is going to happen.”

McDowell also credited Queen’s defensive core, a group who’s allowed just three goals in their last four games. “[There’s] always a better chance to win when you don’t give up goals … I think defensively, our back four has been really solid, and [our] goalkeeping has been good, too,” he said.

With the weekend’s success, the Gaels (7-2-1) now sit second in the OUA East, three points behind the first place UOttawa Gee-Gees (8-1-1). 

With the post-season fast approaching, Queen’s is looking to surpass UOttawa in the coming weeks to grab themselves the number one spot. Their final shot at the Gee-Gee’s will come away from home in their last game of the regular season on Oct. 21.

Queen’s will be back in action next weekend at home, where they’ll host the Trent Excalibur (2-6-3) and UOIT Ridgebacks (6-3-2) in another doubleheader. 

They have six games remaining in their schedule.