GUELPH, Ont. – With October winding down and the calendar flipping over the November, another busy week sees six Gryphon varsity teams in postseason action. The University of Guelph women's rugby team is in Vancouver, BC competing for a national championship. The Gryphons women's soccer team is one win away from just the second OUA title in program history, as they head to the University of Toronto on Saturday afternoon to face the Varsity Blues in the OUA gold medal game. The U of G football team heads to Wilfrid Laurier University for an OUA semifinal matchup against the No. 1-ranked team in the country in the Laurier Golden Hawks. Gryphons men's rugby hosts the Western Mustangs on Friday night in an OUA semifinal. The Gryphons rowing team heads to Montreal for nationals, while the Gryphons men's lacrosse team hosts Western Sunday at 4pm with a winner booking a spot at nationals. See below for more information on all our teams in postseason action this week.
WOMEN'S RUGBY
2025 U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship
Wednesday, October 29 – Sunday, November 2, 2025
Thunderbird Stadium | Vancouver, B.C.
The Gryphons will now turn their focus towards to the 2025 U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championships. The Gryphons will enter the nationals as the No. 5-seed and will begin play on Wednesday (Oct. 29) in the quarterfinals when they take on the No. 4-seed StFX X-Women, the champions of the AUS at 4:30pm (ET) from Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. Guelph will be aiming to win their third national championship in program history, having previously been crowned national champions in 1998 and 2011. The winner of the Guelph-StFX match will face the winner of UVic-Ottawa on Friday night. Full schedule and seeding can be
found here with all 11 games of the championship streaming on CBC digital platforms.
MEN'S RUGBY
OUA Semifinal
Friday, October 31, 2025 - 7pm
Varsity Field | Guelph, ON
Guelph Gryphons vs Western Mustangs
The four-time defending OUA champion Gryphons return to Varsity Field to open up their postseason when they take on the Western Mustangs. Guelph is coming off the bye as the enter as the No. 1-seed with home field advantage throughout the OUA playoffs following their 6-0 regular season record. The Mustangs are coming off a 28-21 quarterfinal victory over the Brock Badgers after finishing the regular season with a 4-2 record. The winner will book their spot in the 2025 Canadian University Men's Rugby Championship being held in Montreal (Nov. 12-16). The Gryphs and Mustangs met earlier in the season from Varsity Field on September 27 with Guelph coming away with the 71-3 win. The Gryphons sit two wins away from a fifth consecutive OUA title.
ROWING
Canadian University Rowing Championship
Saturday, November 1 – Sunday, November 2, 2025
Olympic Basin | Montreal, QC
Results: Regatta Central
After a strong showing at 2025 OUA Rowing Championships which saw them reach the podium on three separate occasions, the Gryphons rowing teams will now head to Montreal for nationals. 23 student-athletes (11 women, 10 men and 2 coxswains) will represent the University of Guelph as they will compete at the Olympic Basin in the two-day event starting on Saturday (Nov. 1) and concluding on Sunday (Nov. 2). The women's team is coming off a 6th-place finish in the final team standings at OUA's, while the Gryphons men's rowers finished in 7th-place at the provincial championships.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
OUA Women's Soccer Championship Final
Saturday, November 1, 2025 - 12pm | Live Stream
Varsity Stadium | Toronto, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 1-seed OUA West) vs Toronto Varsity Blues (No. 1-seed OUA East)
The Gryphons will look to secure the second OUA banner in program history this Saturday (Nov. 1) when they head to the University of Toronto to take on the Varsity Blues in the OUA Championship gold medal match. The Gryphons defeated the Queen's Gaels 4-0 in the semifinals last Saturday (Oct. 25) to earn their spot in the final while Toronto Varsity Blues made their 30th minute goal hold up in their 1-0 win over the Western Mustangs. The Varsity Blues finished one point ahead of the Gryphons during the regular season, edging the Gryphons for the right to host the championship final. Both teams have already qualified for next week's 2025 U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship from Hamilton. A win on Saturday afternoon at U of T would give the Gryphons their second OUA title in program history, with the program's lone OUA banner coming back in 2017.
FOOTBALL
OUA Semifinal
Saturday, November 1, 2025 – 1pm
University Stadium/Knight-Newbrough Field | Waterloo, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 7-seed) vs Laurier Golden Hawks (No. 1-seed)
After scoring a walk-off rouge to upset the No. 2-seed Western Mustangs in London last Saturday (Oct. 25), the Gryphons will make the short trip to Waterloo to take on the reigning Yates Cup Champions and No. 1-ranked team in the country in the Laurier Golden Hawks. A lot has changed since these two teams met in the season opening game of the season back on August 23, where the Golden Hawks escaped Guelph with 33-28 win after
Tristan Aboud's Hail Mary throw in the end zone fell incomplete. Laurier would finish the regular season with an undefeated 8-0 regular season record to earn the No. 1-seed in the conference which includes a 60-13 win over the Western Mustangs in the final game of the regular season to earn the bye. The Gryphons needed a win on the final game of the regular season schedule (as well as some help from the out-of-town scoreboard) just to get into the playoffs, and the Gryphons were able to do so, defeating York and claiming the final playoff spot in the 2025 OUA football postseason. The No. 7-seeded Gryphons started off their playoffs with a bang, knocking off the No. 2-seeded Western Mustangs to earn a spot in the OUA semi's.
The Gryphon defence will see Laurier QB Cal Wither for the second time this season. Wither has not only filled the void at quarterback for the Golden Hawks (following the departure of last year's Hec Crighton winner, Taylor Elgersma), he has emerged as one of the top QB's in the country. Wither leads the OUA with 26 touchdown passes and a 72.7% completion percentage, is 2nd in the conference with 2,472 passing yards and has only thrown 4 interceptions in his first season of OUA football (having spent the previous three seasons as a backup in NCAA Division 1 with the Ohio Bobcats). Laurier also boasts one the premier receivers in Canada in Ethan Jordan. Jordan led the conference with 1,066 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions as this marks the second time in his career he has surpassed the 1,000 yard receiving mark after doing so last season. He is the only receiver in program history to eclipse the 1,000 yard mark in a season. The Golden Hawks also have Ryan Hughes at receiver that the Gryphon defence will need to keep an eye on as Hughes has 529 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns on the season. Laurier will also utilize the run game led by their running back Tayshaun Jackson who has carried the ball 110 times this season for 724 yards, averaging 90.5 yards per game. The Gryphon defence is coming off one of their best performances of the season against Western in the quarterfinals last week as they look for a repeat performance at Laurier. The U of G defence held the Mustangs to 371 yards of total offence, limiting them to 208 yards in the air and keeping one of the top rushing attacks to only 163 yards on the ground. Alex Pope and
Miles La Foucade were everywhere last week as they were involved in 9 tackles each.
Tristan Aboud was efficient last week in the win against Western, completing 19 of his 25 passes for 275 yards with a touchdown and interception.
Isaiah Smith will look for a repeat performance after rushing for 111 yards on 18 carries as he found the end zone that kick-started the Gryphon comeback.
Jakob Tomas was a central part of the passing game in the win, catching a team-high 6 balls for 94 yards as the team's leading receiver. The offensive line will need keep Matteo Laquintana away from the backfield as the Laurier defensive lineman leads the team with 6.0 sacks on the season. Saturday's OUA semifinal will be streamed live on oua.tv with the winner advancing to the Yates Cup, versus the winner of the Queen's at Windsor semifinal.
MEN'S LACROSSE
Baggataway Cup Play-In Game
Sunday, November 2, 2025 - 4pm
Gryphon Soccer Complex | Guelph, ON
Guelph Gryphons vs Western Mustangs
After another impressive regular season, the Gryphons men's lacrosse team enter the playoffs as the top seed in the CUFLA (Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association) West Division with a 9-1 record. The Gryphons now host the Western Mustangs on Sunday at 4pm, with the winner moving on the national championship tournament (Baggataway Cup). The Gryphons and Mustangs met once in the regular season on September 13 in London as Guelph came away with the 13-6 win. The Gryphons will be tested in this one when they host the reigning Baggataway Cup holders. The Gryphons are led by Will MacLeod who leads CUFLA with 45 goals and 71 points while his teammate
Liam Aston is the league leader with 32 assists while scoring 25 goals himself. The winner of Sunday's game will head to Brampton for the 2025 Baggataway Cup, which takes place from November 7-9.
