Matt Holmberg Archives - Queen's Journal

Golden games, vol.2: 10th anniversary of women’s hockey’s six-overtime victory

Written on March 12, 2021. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

In the ninth period of a game that seemed like it may never end, the former women’s hockey centre and current assistant coach, Morgan McHaffie, dove to the Guelph net for a rebound. In part due to adrenaline and in part due to a fanned shot, when she landed right beside the post, she witnessed the...

Women's hockey loses nail-biting first round series to Ryerson

Written on March 1, 2019. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

In playoff hockey, a single goal can be the difference between elation and heartbreak. This past Sunday, the women’s hockey team endured the latter, falling to the Ryerson Rams in overtime of game three of their opening playoff series. “When your hearts are as big as they are on this team, it...

Women’s hockey earns much-needed points in weekend wins

Written on February 5, 2019. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

With a share of luck, the women’s hockey team (12-8-1-0) came out of their final home stand of the season with two wins. On Friday, the Gaels shut out the Laurier Golden Hawks (4-16-0-1) 3-0, and on Saturday night’s senior’s game, snuck past Waterloo (9-6-1-4) 3-2 in overtime. The pair of wins brought...

Women’s hockey sweeps weekend series

Written on January 22, 2019. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

In their strongest weekend of the 2018-19 season, the women’s hockey team (11-7-0-0) defeated the nationally-ranked sixth Western Mustangs (11-3-0-4) 5-2 and the Windsor Lancers (0-14-2-2) 2-1. The Gaels overpowered the Mustangs in the first two periods. Near the end of the second, Queen’s led 4-0...

Women’s hockey comes out of weekend with two wins

Written on October 30, 2018. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

While most students spent their long weekend at home, the women’s hockey team (4-2) stayed in Kingston, picking up two wins against the York Lions (1-2) and Brock Badgers (2-1). In their third straight weekend of back-to-back games, the Gaels beat York 1-0 on Friday in a “particularly sloppy” game,...

Women's hockey splits opening weekend

Written on October 16, 2018. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

After a hectic first weekend of the regular season, women’s hockey head coach Matt Holmberg struggled to find a single word to define the Gaels’ opening pair of games. “It was a funny weekend,” he said. “It’s funny that I’m disappointed with the winning game and feel better about the game we lost—but...

Women's hockey raising the bar in 2018-19

Written on October 12, 2018. Posted in Hockey, Sports.

The past two seasons for the women’s hockey team have been a constant flow of progress. This season, there’s no desire to take a step back. “Our mission, our vision, our dream this year is to not only get to nationals, but to compete for a medal at nationals,” Head Coach Matt Holmberg told The Journal...

Women's hockey ranked number one in province

Written on January 16, 2018. Posted in Sports.

Women’s hockey head coach Matt Holmberg couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season. Riding an 11-1-2 record — and a perfect 7-0 at home — the Gaels currently sit atop the OUA standings. Even with this record, Holmberg knows the team still has a lot to accomplish this semester. “We can’t...

Women’s hockey continues hot streak

Written on November 21, 2017. Posted in Sports.

Over the past month, the women’s hockey team has made one thing very clear: they can beat anybody in the country. On Saturday night, goaltender Stephanie Pascal earned her second consecutive shutout in the Gaels’ 2-0 victory against the UOIT Ridgebacks. Following their lone win of the weekend, Queen’s...

Competing to the final whistle for women’s hockey

Written on March 24, 2017. Posted in Sports.

Very few university hockey teams in Canada can say that they played hockey on the last day of the season. On Sunday, the women’s hockey team was given that honour. After dropping their first game in the U Sports Championship to UBC on Friday, the Gaels bounced back by defeating St. Francis Xavier,...

Gaels upset falls short in the first round

Written on March 17, 2017. Posted in Sports.

It was a packed and rowdy Thursday night at the Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee, as the eighth-seed Queen’s women’s hockey team looked to open their U Sports Championship campaign on a winning note against the first-seed UBC Thunderbirds. The Gaels were unable to complete the upset in a game that...

Women’s hockey continues to roll

Written on February 3, 2017. Posted in Sports.

It wasn’t the start that any of them had in mind. After ten games, the women’s hockey team was looking at a 4-6 record and a discouraging weekend consisting of two straight losses. Something wasn’t right. And then it was. After the winless November 11-12 weekend, the Gaels went on to win eight-straight...

Women’s hockey continues to roll, winning eight in a row

Written on January 31, 2017. Posted in Sports.

On Saturday night, the Kingston Memorial Centre had a buzz unlike any regular season game this year. With the arena packed with players’ friends and family for seniors night, honouring the Class of 2017 Gaels, the women’s hockey team was looking to extend their seven-game winning streak to eight against...

Growing pains for women’s hockey team

Written on November 4, 2016. Posted in Sports.

Just six games into the season, the Queen’s women’s hockey team is still finding their groove. The Gaels split their two games on Halloween weekend, taking down the Varsity Blues 3-0 but dropping their Sunday afternoon contest to the Guelph Gryphons by a score of 3-1. Queen’s currently holds a 3-3...

Working towards the national championships

Written on October 14, 2016. Posted in Sports.

At the beginning of a new season, it’s almost become a formality for teams to force-feed the phrase “new season, new start” when asked about their approach to the season ahead. Not for Queen’s women’s hockey team. In the 2015-16 season, the Gaels finished third in the OUA standings, displaying their...

Women's hockey knocked out of playoffs

Written on March 1, 2016. Posted in Sports.

A third period comeback wasn’t in the cards for the women’s hockey team, as they bowed out of the post season on Friday night. The Gaels fell 3-2 to the Nipissing Lakers in the second game of the quarterfinal playoffs, two nights after dropping the series opener 2-1 in overtime against the same opponent....

A different kind of fatherly advice

Written on February 11, 2016. Posted in Sports.

Russ Holmberg isn’t an official assistant coach for Queen’s women’s hockey program, but that doesn’t prevent him from providing his opinions to the team. With his son Matt serving as the head coach of the Gaels, his advice has a different meaning than it would coming from just any informal advisor....

Resurgent offence leads to women's hockey comeback

Written on February 2, 2016. Posted in Sports.

When his team was down 2-0 after the first period, head coach Matt Holmberg didn’t give a coach’s speech in the intermission. Instead, he let his athletes do the talking. “I went up to our captains and said, ‘You know what? This one’s on the players,’” he said. “It was our leaders and our captains...

Women's hockey back to winning

Written on January 26, 2016. Posted in Sports.

After starting their weekend homestand with a fourth loss in five games, the women’s hockey team was primed for a statement game. The Gaels did just that on Saturday night, topping the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks 5-2, one night after falling to the Waterloo Warriors 3-1. The victory over Laurier...

Women’s hockey falters against York

Written on January 19, 2016. Posted in Sports.

Returning in their first game back from the winter break, women’s hockey didn’t get the easy win they may have expected. Facing off against a York squad who’d only won twice in 13 previous contests, the Gaels mustered only a lone goal in 62 minutes of action, only to fall 2-1 in overtime. “We have...

Queen’s to host championship

Written on November 13, 2015. Posted in Sports.

Fresh off hosting the women’s rugby national championship, the CIS announced Queen’s as the host for the 2017 women’s hockey national championship. According to women’s hockey head coach Matt Holberg, Queen’s Athletic’s decision to bid to be tournament host wasn’t one they took lightly. “They don’t...

Gaels keep streak alive

Written on October 30, 2015. Posted in Sports.

Women’s hockey eked out an overtime victory in their second contest of the weekend to keep their hot start going. The Gaels blanked the Laurentian Lady Vees 2-0 on Friday night before storming back to snare a 3-2 overtime win from the Nipissing Lakers the following night. Winger Taryn Pilon proved...

Late errors cause for dropped points

Written on October 20, 2015. Posted in Sports.

Women’s hockey came away with a victory in their second game of the weekend, but they’ll be kicking themselves for losing the night before. The Gaels squandered a 1-0 lead late in the third period against the Toronto Varsity Blues on Friday, ultimately falling 2-1 in a shootout. One day later, they...

Women's hockey title push begins

Written on October 8, 2015. Posted in Sports.

Coming off a first-round playoff loss last season to Laurier, women’s hockey can’t wait to get their new season started. “Usually when this time rolls around, we’re itching to get going,” head coach Matt Holmberg said, as his team opens their schedule with a pair of home games against Brock and York...

Road trips bond Gaels

Written on October 2, 2015. Posted in Sports.

Women’s hockey head coach Matt Holmberg has seen his fair share of successes in his time at Queen’s, winning two OUA titles in six seasons. But before the regular season begins, Holmberg’s players take an annual trip to build team chemistry on and off the ice. “We deliberately and carefully plan...

Cool behind the bench

Written on March 22, 2013. Posted in Sports.

Matt Holmberg has quickly become one of Queen’s most decorated bench bosses. After joining the women’s hockey coaching staff in 2006, Holmberg capped off his fourth season as head coach with an OUA championship and a berth to CIS nationals. Both milestones were his second with the Gaels, after claiming...

Sixth place by narrow margin

Written on March 15, 2013. Posted in Sports.

TORONTO — CIS nationals were filled with heartbreak for the women’s hockey team. On the national stage last weekend, Queen’s fell just short in each of their games, finishing sixth in the country. All three losses came by only one goal, though the games themselves were very different. Queen’s started...

Engulfed in Guelph

Written on January 29, 2013. Posted in Sports.

Friday’s tilt in Guelph was a humbling experience for the women’s hockey team. The Gaels were blown out on the road by the Gryphons (18-3-2), falling by a score of 7-2. Head coach Matt Holmberg felt that the team lacked both focus and execution during the game. “We’re not making any excuses,” Holmberg...

No plans for arena

Written on April 5, 2012. Posted in Sports.

The men’s and women’s hockey teams are still waiting for their arena. In the spring of 2007, the 55-year old Jock Harty Arena, located at the corner of Division and Union Streets, was torn down. Since then, the hockey teams have played home games everywhere from Napanee to Strathcona to the Memorial...

Back on track after losing streak

Written on January 24, 2012. Posted in Sports.

The women’s hockey team’s losing streak reached four games after Saturday’s 4-0 home loss to the Guelph Gryphons — but the Gaels bounced back to beat the Brock Badgers 3-2 on Sunday in their first win since Jan. 3. “Sometimes, it takes a couple tough losses to remind you of just how hard you have...

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