GUELPH, Ont. – Friday night at Varsity Field, the Gryphons men's rugby team suffered a 21-10 defeat at the hands of the two-time defending OUA champion Queen's Gaels. With the loss, the Gryphons fall to 2-1 while Queen's improves to 3-0.
"There were a lot of really good things tonight," said Gryphons head coach
Cory Hector. "We're obviously aware of how strong of a team they are and felt like we were prepared for it.
There were a lot of things we did tonight that were the best we have performed all season, which is exciting, but we obviously still have loads of room for improvement. We need to clean up some errors around the goal line and work on our set-pieces. But overall, where we're at right now is way ahead of where I thought we'd be."
Just over three years have passed since the powerhouse Queen's Gaels men's rugby team last lost an OUA regular season game. The Guelph Gryphons were responsible for that, beating Queen's 18-12 back on Sept. 11, 2016. That same year, the Gryphons would go on to claim the OUA title beating Queen's in an epic conference final. Friday night on their home field, the Gryphons were looking to pull off the rare feat of taking down the Gaels, and early on, the host Gryphons were giving their rivals from Queen's all they could handle.
After the Gaels jumped out to a 7-0 lead on an 18th minute try from fifth-year prop Ruairidh MacPhail, the Gryphons would respond with a try of their own in the 35th minute.
Colin Lynch, an animal biosciences Masters student from Castleknock, Ireland, would touch down to get the Gryphons on the board.
Aria Keshoofy would make good on the conversion and the Gryphons and Gaels were knotted at 7-7 at the half.
In the second half, Queen's would restore their seven-point lead on a try from Stephen Zuliani in the 52nd minute. Like they did in the first half, the Gryphons were once again quick to respond, with Aria Keshoofy adding a penalty kick to trim the deficit to 14-10. That would prove to be as close as Guelph would get, with the Gales making it a two-score game with a try from Trevor Aegalson, which was followed by Connor Jaques' third conversion of the night to cap a 21-10 Queen's win.
The Gryphons are now halfway through their six-game regular season schedule and will play each of their next two matches on the road, beginning with a matchup versus the Trent Excalibur on September 27 in Peterborough.
SCORING SUMMARY
| Minute |
School |
Type of Score |
Player |
Convert Good? |
Updated Score |
| 18' |
Queen's |
Try |
3 (Ruairidh MacPhail) |
Good (Connor Jacques) |
7-0 Queen's |
| 35' |
Guelph |
Try |
15 (Colin Lynch) |
Good (Aria Keshoofy) |
7-7 |
| 52' |
Queen's |
Try |
1 (Stephen Zuliani) |
Good (Connor Jacques) |
14-7 Queen's |
| 57' |
Guelph |
Penalty Kick |
10 (Aria Keshoofy) |
|
14-10 Queen's |
| 61' |
Queen's |
Try |
26 (Trevor Aelgason) |
Good (Connor Jacques) |
21-10 Queen's (Final) |
