Men’s rugby clinches first

The men’s rugby team is atop the OUA heading into playoffs.

The Gaels recorded their fourth shutout in their final regular season game with a 13-0 victory over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday night.

They’ll finish as the top seed in the OUA, ending the season with a record of 7-1 and automatically advancing to the semi-finals.

The Gryphons’ first defeat of the season puts them in second place — one point behind Queen’s in the standings.

Centre George Gleeson opened the game’s scoring with a try, followed by a conversion kick from fly half Liam Underwood.

In the second half, Underwood continued the scoring with a penalty goal and drop goal, ending the game with a total of eight points.

The Gaels host the OUA semi-finals next week at Nixon Field. They’ll face the lowest remaining seed after the OUA quarter-final matchups: the Waterloo Warriors visit the Western Mustangs, and the Brock Badgers visit the McMaster Marauders.

-— Adrian Smith

Lacrosse ends seasons

The women’s lacrosse team finished their 2012 campaign with a bronze medal in the OUA championships.

Queen’s hosted the 13-game tournament this weekend at West Campus and Tindall Fields.

On Saturday Queen’s defeated the McMaster Marauders 9-5 in the quarter-final stage. They fell to the Western Mustangs 15-10 that evening in the semi-finals.

On Sunday, they beat the Laurier Golden Hawks 8-7 in the bronze-medal match. Western took gold in a 12-7 decision over the Guelph Gryphons.

Meanwhile, the men’s lacrosse team saw their season end along with their hopes for a shot at the Baggataway Cup — the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association championship. They lost the quarter-final match 13-12 to the Bishop’s Gaiters — last year’s Cup champions.

After starting off with an 8-1 deficit, Gaels captain Matt Eriksen scored five straight goals to kick-start the comeback. Queen’s led 12-11 in the fourth quarter, but the Gaiters prevailed 13-12 on home turf.

Eriksen finished the game with six goals and two assists.

-— Peter Morrow

Men’s volleyball 1-1

Queen’s opened their OUA title defence last weekend with a split on the road.

The Gaels (1-1) were blanked in their season opener on Friday night, falling 3-0 to the McMaster Marauders (3-0) in Hamilton. McMaster had the OUA’s second-best regular season record in 2011-12, but fell to Queen’s in the conference semi-final.

The Gaels managed to push McMaster to extra points in the second set and came within three points in the third, but were ultimately shut out.

Third-year outside hitter Philippe Goyer led the Gaels with 11 kills, while second-year hitter Mike Tomlinson added 10.

Queen’s rebounded on Saturday with a narrow 3-2 win over the York Lions (1-2), the OUA’s seventh seed last season.

After surrendering an early two-set lead against York, the Gaels prevailed 15-10 in the fifth and final frame. Tomlinson paced the team with 15 kills, while fifth-year setter Jackson Dakin completed 43 passes.

-— Nick Faris

Women’s volleyball wins and loses

The women’s volleyball team is now 2-1 in regular season play after a weekend on the road that saw its ups and downs.

On Saturday, the team suffered its first loss of the season, losing in straight sets to the York Lions.

Despite the loss, Queen’s ended the game with more attacks per set than the Lions. The Gaels’ Colleen Ogilvie and Kelsey Bishop tallied eight and seven kills, respectively.

Things looked up for the Gaels Sunday as the team rebounded from its loss. They defeated the Brock Badgers 3-1 in a game that went to four sets.

Queen’s was victorious in extra points in the first set, recording 15 kills. They also took the second and fourth sets

-— Alison Shouldice

Can’t top McGill

Queen’s fell to the McGill Redmen for the second straight game last Friday.

After dropping a 2-0 decision in Montreal on Oct. 24, the Gaels pushed McGill to overtime in the second game of their home-and-home series. Despite a 44-save effort from goaltender Riley Whitlock, the Redmen prevailed 3-2 in the extra frame.

Queen’s (2-2-1) hasn’t beaten McGill (3-3-0) in their last 12 match-ups.

On Friday, McGill opened up an early 2-0 lead, before Taylor Clements drew the Gaels within one on his third goal of the season.

The Gaels pulled Whitlock for an extra attacker late in the third. The maneuver paid dividends when captain Corey Bureau banged in the tying goal with 40 seconds left.

Queen’s managed one shot in overtime, before Christophe Longpre-Poirier tallied the winner with 1:03 remaining.

-— Nick Faris