While the men’s soccer team split their weekend games against Trent and Carleton, momentum will remain on their side as they head into the second half of the season.

On Saturday, Queen’s opened their weekend series with a smooth 3-0 win over the visiting Trent Excalibur.

Trent was in trouble early on, having one of their players sent out of the game with a red card in the 18th minute. Shorthanded for the remainder of the game, midfielder and third-year Michael Chang gave Queen’s a 1-0 lead five quick minutes later.

The Gaels kept the pressure up but Trent’s goaltender stymied their efforts for the rest of the first half. In the second they finally broke through in the 71st minute with a beautiful free kick off the foot of first-year forward Nicholas Theodorakakis.

Midfielder Nick Alie Day added an insurance goal in injury time, firmly putting to rest any hopes Trent had of a comeback.

With the win, Queen’s looked primed to take on a strong Carleton Ravens team the next day. However, Carleton, who are nationally-ranked fifth in the country, maintained their undefeated record and ultimately eked out a 2-1 win over the Gaels.

The Ravens struck early, scoring five minutes into the match. They followed with a second goal shortly after in the 25th minute.

Carleton proved to be the better team with quick, accurate, and tactical passes that were seemingly always out of Gaels defenders’ reach.

Queen’s offence suffered until the 65th minute, when Chang’s efforts forced a corner kick. Defender James Michaelis sent a well-aimed header into the back of the net, breathing new life into the Gaels with his first career goal.

But it was too late for Queen’s, who found themselves unable to muster a comeback in the final 25 minutes of the match.

In an interview after the loss to Carleton, head coach Cristian Hoefler was even-keeled.

“We look at the way we performed and the way that we played, not the results, and that’s something I can be proud of,” Hoefler said.

He was impressed by the effort put forth by his team, mentioning how his players exerted themselves to the point that they were cramping up after the match—“[you could see] the desire,” he added.

When asked how he’d like his team to play against Carleton on Oct. 20, Hoefler wants the Gaels to focus on allowing less shots on target.

“We do trust our goalkeeping, we trust our centre backs and our back line to be able to handle some shots … it’s really where these shots are occurring [that’s the issue],” he said of his team’s defensive play against the Ravens. “But the ones they [coverted] were quite central.”

“We need to ensure we take care of that.”

Queen’s is currently third place in the OUA East, and hit the road next weekend to take on the Ryerson Rams and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.