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A quick roundup of Queen’s Gaels teams in action over the weekend.

WOMEN’S HOCKEY

The No. 8 Queen’s Gaels fell 4-1 against the No. 3 Saint Mary's Huskies on Sunday in the fifth-place game of the 2017 U Sports Women's Hockey Championship at the Strathcona Paper Centre in Napanee.
 
The AUS champion Huskies scored in each period against the tournament hosts. Stephanie Pascal finished with 19 saves for the Gaels while Amber Sealey scored for Queen’s.

The Gaels opened with a 2-1 loss against the top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds before beating the St. Francis Xavier X-Women 2-0 in the consolation semifinal.

“Despite coming in sixth and a 1-2 record, I couldn't be more proud of how the team battled,” Queen's head coach Matt Holmberg says. “From the first faceoff against UBC to the last period against Saint Mary’s, we played our best hockey of the year.”

Holmberg said the experience of not only playing in, but competing at, a national tournament will be massive for the program going forward.

“This is a great experience for our players that are returning,” he says. “They know that they can compete at this level, and they’re already excited to make another run next year.”

The gold medal went to the University of Alberta Pandas who beat the McGill Martlets 2-1 after the final game went into double overtime.

MEN’S HOCKEY

The Queen’s Gaels men’s hockey team suffered a 5-1 defeat to the host UNB Varsity Reds in the opening round of the University Cup in Fredericton, N.B. on Thursday night.

Head coach Brett Gibson had high praise for his team that battled all the way to the national tournament.

“We’re a hockey program now,” Gibson says. “We've always been a great school academically, but now we're the best of both worlds. Why wouldn’t you want to come to Queen’s” You can get the best education and play for a program on a national stage.”

The Gaels only arrived in Fredericton a few hours before the game after a two-day bus odyssey through a blizzard. Still they were able to score first as Spencer Abraham found the back of the net 2:21 into the game.

But that would be it for the Gaels as the tournament hosts responded less than a minute later and took the lead for good before the first period ended.

UNB would go on to claim the title on Sunday, beating the Saskatchewan Huskies 5-3 in the final.