Since their draw against the Blues in 2022, the Gaels have proven to be an insurmountable wall for U of T. On September 14, the Varsity Blues Women’s Lacrosse team fell to the Queen’s University Gaels for the sixth time in a row, with a score of 12–3 at Varsity Stadium.
Queen’s offence was a major strength as they found gaps in the Blues’ defence, exploiting them at will while stifling U of T’s opportunities with their ironclad defence.
What happened?
The Gaels’ command of the field was evident from their first possession. After winning the first faceoff, midfielder Abby Lee passed the ball to midfielder Sophia Wilson, who cradled the ball on the way to bury their first goal in just the 10th second, leaving the score 1–0.
Besides their struggles with creating opportunities and offensive execution, the Blues were also outdone in faceoffs. Queen’s won the second faceoff, as Lee once again nailed a well-placed pass to the rushing attacker, Tara Meikle, who netted their second goal, 2–0.
The Gaels also took advantage of play restarts as midfielder Victoria Murray split her way into U of T’s defence and found the back of the net to further the gap, 3–0. Queen’s added another score off of another play restart as midfielder Brooke Rutledge shot a goal, widening their lead to 4–0.
Despite the loss, Rheanna Swanson, the Blues’ “Tasmanian Devil,” stood her ground against Queen’s. After grabbing the ball, goaltender Elizabeth McDonald fired it across the field to the striding forward Rheanna Swanson, who missed her first shot but grabbed the rebound and scored the Blues’ first goal of the night.
“Rheanna Swanson is a very special member of our team, and she is really good at what she does. We can count on her for a couple of goals a game when we need her. That girl hustles harder than anything. We call her the Tasmanian Devil,” Coach Jesse Porter said in a post-game interview with The Varsity, when asked about Swanson’s performance.
Queen’s quickly responded as Rutledge unleashed another shot that found its way onto the goal to end the first quarter, 5–1. To start the second, Lee burst through the defence to swing for another goal, leveraging their lead to 6–1.
The invigorated Blues then started to mount a comeback. After McDonald blocked a Queen’s goal attempt, Swanson spun through the defence to tally her second goal of the night, 6–2. On a penalty opportunity, attacker Isabella Ward recorded her first goal of the night, to cut the deficit to three, 6–3.
As quickly as the Blues got on a run, the Queen’s play managed to stagnate their offence and overpower them with their own production. Attacker Summer Thomas registered her first goal off a play restart, 7–3. The Queen’s defensive group also came up with timely stops after thwarting a couple of U of T’s chances to end the half.
From then on, the Gaels put on a dominant offensive display, putting up five more goals, and imposed an impenetrable defence that crushed U of T’s opportunities as they walked away with a 12–3 victory.
“This game was a huge improvement from previous times that we’ve played Queen’s. We’re not necessarily mad about this loss at all. We’re really proud of our defenders and how they showed up today,” said Porter, who remains optimistic about the team despite the loss.
What’s next?
Earlier on the same day, the Blues edged out Ontario Tech University in a 9–6 win, splitting the two games they played. After this game, the Blues sit at third in the division with a 2–2 record while the Gaels improved to 3–1, which is good enough for second place. The U of T squad returned on September 20 at Trent University, where they played the University of Guelph and Wilfred Laurier University.
“Next week, we’re hoping to come back even stronger, and continue working on our defensive system, as well as some of our plays, and just giving it our all on the field each game,” said Porter, when The Varsity asked about the expectations for the team this week. The Blues lost both games: 7–9 and 6–12, respectively.
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