Women’s Hockey
The Queen’s Women’s Hockey team concluded their season on Feb. 25 against the University of Toronto (U of T) Varsity Blues.
The Gaels’ Feb. 25 loss was the second of two losses in their best-of-three series. The game was win-or-go home for both teams.
In the first game of the series, on Feb. 21, the Gaels beat the Varsity Blues 3-1 in Toronto, but when they returned to the Memorial Centre for game two, the Gaels lost 2-1 in double-overtime.
If the Gaels won the double-overtime game, they would’ve advanced to round two, but instead game three was forced on Feb. 25 and they lost 6-1.
The Gaels saw their fair share of friction in the regular season, going 15-12-1. However, it wasn’t out of the ordinary, as their 2022-23 season saw a 13-10-4 record.
Beating U of T 1-0 and 2-0 in their two matchups this season, the Gaels knew the first round of playoffs would see close games.
The Gaels finished the regular season behind U of T, placing third in the OUA East Division. Goaltender Emma Tennant, Sci ’25, finished third overall in the OUA for saves with 614 in 27 games.
Leading the Gaels, rookie Mikayla Cranney, ArtSci ’27, had 21 points and 10 goals. Sarah Campbell, Comm ’24, lead the team for assists with 12.
Campbell was named an OUA Second Team All-Star, while Tennant and Cranney were named to the OUA All-Rookie team.
This bright first-year class gives the team a good leg to stand on going into their 2024-25 season next year.
“One thing we were really looking to ramp up, from a recruiting perspective, was just the hockey IQ and finding those players that can really think the game and sort of take that next level and the next step,” Head Coach Morgan McHaffie said. “We have a great class this year of first-year rookies.”
READ MORE: Catching up on Women’s Hockey with Morgan McHaffie
Men’s Hockey
The Queen’s Men’s Hockey team followed a similar fate to their women’s hockey counterparts, making a first-round exit from the OUA playoffs.
Seeded fourth in the OUA East Division, the Gaels started round one with a home ice advantage against the fifth place Concordia Stingers.
The Gaels already beat Concordia twice this season, with scores of 3-1 and 3-0 on Jan. 20 and 26, respectively.
Game one was played on Feb. 14 at home, where the Gaels lost 3-1. Two days later, the Gaels traveled to Concordia’s home rink in Montreal where they lost in a tough 4-3 overtime game.
READ MORE: No love between Gaels and Concordia Stingers this Valentine’s Day
“It’s just getting back to what we’re good at. What we’re good at is getting pucks loose, working hard, [and] not turning pucks over,” Head Coach Brett Gibson said following the Feb. 14 game.
“You learn from these games, and you got to learn quick,” he said.
The Gaels ended their 2023-24 run with a 19-8-1 regular season record. This was a big step up from their 2022-23 season when they went 12-12-2 and missed playoffs entirely.
Goaltender Christian Purboo, ArtSci ’25, had a phenomenal season with multiple OUA and U SPORTS Athlete of the Week nods. He was second in the OUA for Goals Against Average with 1.82, third for save percentage with a 0.934, and third for win percentage with 0.737, all in 19 games played.
Dalton Duhart, ArtSci ’26, was an offensive force for the Gaels this year. He was second overall in the OUA for points with 44 and led the league in assists with 27. Jonathan Yantsis, ArtSci ’24, played a prominent role in Queen’s offensive unit and he was fourth in the OUA for goals with 18.
Yantsis is one of six graduating players from the Men’s Hockey team, including teammates Thomas Stevenson, ArtSci ’24, Jacob Paquette, ArtSci ’24, Scott Gervais, ArtSci ’24, Alex Robert ArtSci ’24, and Jakob Brahaney, ArtSci ’24
Among the graduating players, three have signed to ECHL teams. Yantsis will the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, Brahaney s the Kansas City Mavericks, and Paquette s Trois-Rivières Lions.
Women’s Basketball
Queen’s Women’s Basketball lost the OUA gold medal game on March 2 against the Carleton Ravens, 63-55. This comes after a 68-51 quarter final win against the Guelph Gryphons Feb. 24, and a 67-49 semi-final win against the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold on Feb. 28.
Their regular season saw a record of 18-4 where two of those loses were against Carleton on Jan. 6 and Feb. 17.
“It takes 12 players to win at this point in the season,” Head Coach Claire Meadows said. “Everyone on our team has bought into what we’re doing, and they show up every day, one through 12, and everyone shows up with a great attitude.”
Top players on the Gaels included Bella Gaudet, Comm ’24, who was first in the OUA for three-point percentage with a percentage of 43.1. Laura Donovan, Nurs ’24, was third with 36.6.
Julia Chadwick, MIR ’24, was the biggest standout player for the Gaels, leading the OUA in rebounds per game with 11.3 and was fourth for points per game with 18.4.
Chadwick was recently named a U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian and broke multiple Queen’s Women’s Basketball program records including the single-season record for points with 405, and points-per-game with 18.4. She broke the Queen’s single-game points record with 43 points on Jan. 13.
READ MORE: Julia Chadwick makes Queen’s Basketball history
The Gaels’ season isn’t completely over however, as they travel to Edmonton, Alberta for the U SPORTS National Championships which take place March 7 to March 10.
Their first game is at 4:30 p.m. on March 7 against the Saint Mary’s University (SMU) Huskies.
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