The York University Lions women's rugby team was defeated by a score of 41-21 in its OUA quarter-final match against the No. 4 nationally-ranked Queen's Gaels at Nixon Field in Kingston, Ont., on Friday night (Oct. 10).
 
Queen's opened the scoring early with a try by Miranda Seifert (Regina) just three minutes into a tight first half, her first of three on the night, and Karley Heyman (Harrowsmith, Ont.) made the score 10-0 for the Gaels. But the Lions battled back on a try by Emma Jada (Guelph, Ont.) in the 20^th minute and a successful conversion by Catherine Belanger (Orleans, Ont.) that made the score 10-7.
 
However, a try by Emma Chown (Barrie, Ont.) and Heymen's conversion restored the Gaels' 10-point lead.
 
As the first half wound down and the second half began, York fought for field position with strong play from their forwards. A trio of penalty kicks from Belanger brought York back into the game, as the Gaels' lead dwindled to 17-16 in the early minutes of the second half.
 
Sixteen minutes into the second half, Heyman burst through the York line for her second try of the match and added the conversion to put the Gaels up 24-16. Seifert scored her second try just a few minutes later and Caitie Ryan (Kamloops, B.C.) followed suit, and another Heyman conversion made it 36-16 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Strong running from Fedelia Omoghan (Scarborough, Ont.) set up a try by Krista Kent (Scarborough, Ont.), and after an unsuccessful conversion Seifert countered with her third try of the match to round out the scoring.
 
The defending OUA champion Gaels now head into a semifinal match against the Guelph Gryphons next weekend, while the Lions saw their season come to an end with the loss.