Maxfield Materne
Men’s Soccer
Most first-year students have a lot on their plate between getting used to university academics, meeting new people and living away from home for the first time. Freshman Maxfield Materne fits this exactly, but has one other small commitment; he’s the starting goalkeeper for the men’s soccer team.
As the team headed in to the playoffs, Materne backstopped the Gaels to consecutive 2-0 and 4-0 victories over the Nippising Lakers and the Laurentian Voyageurs respectively to close the regular season.
Materne was not worried about the extra time commitment this year, but rather focused on his ion for the game of soccer.
“There’s something about sport and the level of competition that you get out of it that is really amazing,” Materne said. “It’s so fun to play and you get such a feeling of achievement when you win a game or make a great save.”
It hasn’t been an easy road for Materne, who began the season at the Gaels’ first-string keeper.
“I started off as the starting goalie but I lost my position after about five games,” he said. “I had to work pretty hard to get it back. There are some really good goalkeepers on the team. They deserve credit for being as good as they are. It certainly made me want it more. You sort of get complacent maybe when you have a starting spot for too long.”
Materne credited his teammates for helping him make the jump to the OUA and hopes the team can begin a deep postseason run.
“The team is great, they’re the best guys I’ve met at Queen’s so far,” he said. “For me it was a little bit daunting to jump in to the being the first goalie and play guys who are upwards of three years older than you.
“Out of the CIS, I feel like we have the most talented team and we definitely work as hard, if not harder, than the top teams.”
— Anand Srivastava
Ashley Ward
Women’s Rugby
As the women’s rugby team prepares for the OUA championship game, eight-man, Ashley Ward, can reflect on her journey that began in Barrie, Ontario.
Ward initially got into rugby because it was a popular sport at her high school. When her older sister got into the sport, it became a foregone conclusion that she too would play. Ward began playing when she entered the ninth grade and it stuck: she competed for all five years of high school.
She went on to the University of Nova Scotia where she played for another four years while studying. After completing her BA, Ward took a break from athletics and entered the working world. She returned to Ontario and began working in Kingston at a ski shop. She then did a social work program at St. Lawrence College and followed that up with an outreach program.
Over the course of these three years she would come to the Queen’s rugby games and watch. Her sister is the assistant coach for the team so there were personal reasons for coming as a spectator, but she also couldn’t get away from the game.
“I’ve been coming out and watching the games and sort of wishing to get back into it,” she said. The desire to return to rugby and continue post-secondary education led her to apply for the bachelor of education. She was accepted and the season took a turn for the best.
Last weekend in the OUA semi-final Ward posted a try to help bring the Gaels back from a 3-0 deficit. In her season with the Gaels, the team has enjoyed a perfect regular season and the first CIS berth in the team’s history. They hope to go for the banner next weekend against the University of Guelph.
“Obviously it’s really exciting for the team. It is the first time the team has ever been there. It’s the most successful season Queen’s has had in a really long time just to get to the final,” Ward said. “It’s been the perfect match.”
— Lauri Kytömaa
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