MEN'S HOCKEY: LEADING THE PACK
The No.8 nationally ranked Gaels men's hockey team (13-4-1) hosts the UOIT Ridgebacks (12-5-1) at 7:30 PM on Friday night at the Memorial Centre in the Game of the Week.
The Gaels sit just two points ahead of UOIT while McGill, who visits Windsor Friday and Saturday, are one point behind Queen's. The tricolour closed out 2016 with a pair of home victories doubling up the Laurentian Voyageurs 6-3 followed by a decisive 2-1 win over the then No.7 nationally ranked UQTR Patriotes.
Against Laurentian, the Gaels Slater Doggett (Oakville, Ont.) registered a career-high four points scoring two goals and adding a pair of assists in the win. Five different Gaels players had multi-point nights and goaltender Jacob Brennan (Halifax) recorded his seventh win in as many starts this season. Brennan leads all OUA netminders in GAA with a 1.91 mark and has a 0.931 save percentage, good for fourth in the conference.
The following night the Gaels took down UQTR 2-1 to claim the top spot in the OUA East at the December break. With the game tied late in the third period Doggett once again came through for Queen's scoring the eventual game winner for the Gaels. Doggett extended his point streak to six games and Queen's improved to 13-4-1 for 27 points to lead the OUA East.
The UOIT Ridgebacks come into the weekend having lost four of their last six games picking up wins against Ottawa and RMC over that stretch. This game marks their first meeting of the season but the two teams are familiar with each other as the Gaels were eliminated in the 2015-16 OUA playoffs by the Ridgebacks. UOIT is looking to pull even with the Gaels by picking up a win in Kingston.
WOMEN'S HOCKEY: ROAD TRIP
The Gaels women's hockey team (5-1-6-0) travel to North Bay on Friday afternoon to take on the No.7 nationally ranked Nipissing Lakers (8-2-1-1) at 4:30pm and will visit the Laurentian Voyageurs (6-0-6-0) in Sudbury on Saturday afternoon at 3:50pm.
Queen's will be looking to pick up as many points as they can from here on out as they fight to make the OUA playoffs. The Gaels closed out the 2016 portion of their schedule snapping a three game losing streak with a pair or wins. After beating Windsor in overtime at home on November 19 the Gaels picked up a big road victory 3-1 over Toronto on the 27th. Kaylie Dennis (London, Ont.) picked up her first career U Sports goal which held up as the game winner over the Varsity Blues.
The win locked the tricolour in a four way tie for eighth and final playoff spot
The Nipissing Lakers have been one of the strongest teams in the country this season and also defeated Queen's in the playoffs in 2015-16. The two teams met to start the season in Kingston where the Lakers came away with a 5-2 win over Queen's. Hailey Wilson (Pickering, Ont.) and Megan Farrell (Barrie, Ont.) scored for Queen's in the loss. The Lakers have lost just once at home this season and boast the best penalty kill in the OUA at 94.2% allowing just three goals.
Laurentian sits just one point ahead of the four teams tied for the final playoff spot and will take on UOIT on Sunday afternoon after battling Queen's Saturday. The Voyageurs are looking to turn around their season after having lost four of their last five games including a 4-3 loss to UOIT in Oshawa to close out 2016.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: UNDEFEATED GAELS
The No.5 Gaels (6-0) start off 2017 with a tough road swing as they travel to London on Friday to take on Western (5-3) and follow up with a visit to Windsor (7-1) on Saturday to battle the No. 7 Lancers. Both games are set to tip-off at 6pm.
Queen's closed out their 2016 portion of the schedule as the only undefeated team in the OUA handling Algoma with ease at the ARC in a 73-33 win. Robyn Pearson (Toronto) made a bit of history in the win as she picked up a double-double, draining 11 points and bringing down a game-high 11 rebounds. Her 11 rebounds moved her past Renata Adamczyk and into 10th place on the all-time OUA conference rebounding list. Pearson is the Gaels all-time leading rebounder. Veronika Lavergne (Kingston) dropped a game-high 14 rebounds and added seven assists, while Emily Hazlett (Fredericton) added 10 points and six assists for the Gaels as well.
Queen's saw action over the holidays on the East Coast where they went 2-1 at the Thunder Selects exhibition tournament in Halifax. Queen's beat Saint Mary's and Dalhousie while dropping a 73-52 decision to Acadia.
Western enters 2016 having lost two of three to close out the year. Western has played just two games at home this season where they have a 1-1 record. The Lancers won their first seven games out of the gate before losing at Ryerson on December 3, 59-55 in a battle between two of the best teams in the OUA conference. Windsor and Western will each also host the York Lions over the weekend.
MEN'S BASKETBALL: LOOKING FOR ROAD WINS
The Gaels (5-1) are on the road to start 2017 as they visit Western (1-7) on Friday night and Windsor (4-4) on Saturday night, both games are set for 8pm tip-offs.
Queen's enters 2017 having won five straight games after losing to York to open the season. The Gaels closed out their first half with an 85-77 win over Algoma at the ARC in Kingston on December 3. Sukhpreet Singh (Toronto) moved into third place on the Queen's men's basketball all-time scoring list as he passed Mike Scotten on his first basket of the game at the 6:38 mark of the first quarter, and finished with a game-high 17 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Tanner Graham (Kingston, Ont.) added a double-double with 16 points and a game-best 12 rebounds for Queen's, who led the contest from start to finish but saw a lead as high as 26 points drop to five in the dying moments of the fourth quarter after a concerted Algoma comeback bid came up short.
The Gaels were also in action over the holiday break at the Shoveller exhibition tournament. Queen's finished 1-2 over their three games defeating Mount Royal and losing to Saint Mary's and UPEI.
The Mustangs have won just won game this season defeating Lakehead in Thunder Bay 53-31 while Windsor has lost two of their last three. Queen's will look to take advantage of the faltering OUA West Division teams while on the road this weekend.
WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: EXHIBITION
The women's volleyball team will get in some competition at the RMC Invitational this weekend before starting up their OUA schedule next week. Queen's will play McGill and the Canadian Military National team on Thursday then take on Ottawa and Sherbrooke on Friday.
The Gaels will host RMC on January 15 to open up their second half OUA schedule at the ARC Main Gym.
MEN'S VOLLEYBALL: EXHIBITION TOURNAMENT
The men's volleyball team is in Toronto this weekend as they take part in the York Excalubur Classic. Queen's will meet Western on Friday then play Nipissing and Budo on Saturday. The Gaels finish up with a gold or bronze medal match on Sunday.
The Gaels will host RMC on January 15 to open up their second half OUA schedule at the ARC Main Gym.