The York University Lions football team will close out the 2015 campaign on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 17) when the squad welcomes the No. 10 nationally-ranked Queen's Gaels to York Stadium.
 
Kick-off is set for 1pm and the game can also be seen live online on OUA.tv. Prior to the game, the Lions will honour the seven graduating student-athletes who will be playing in their final games for the program. Saturday's game is also the Lions Tackle Cancer initiative, and players will be wearing pink in support of breast cancer research. Proceeds from on-site silent auction and prize draws will benefit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. There is also the Rock Your Red contest to win $200 from Pizza Pizza and the fan of the game will win big macs for a year from McDonald's.
 
The Lions have made modest gains with a very young team this season and will be looking to end the year on a high note against a tough Gaels squad that has found its groove of late after a tough start to the year. The highlight of the Lions' season to this point came in Week 4 when they posted a 23-14 victory over the Waterloo Warriors. Since then, they have dropped three in a row to McMaster, Toronto and Carleton, including a loss to the Varsity Blues in their most recent home contest under the lights on Oct. 2.
 
The Gaels, meanwhile, are coming off their bye week and before that, posted the biggest upset of the OUA season thus far with a 23-15 victory of then No. 5 Guelph. The triumph moved the Gaels into the national rankings for the first time this season and gave them two wins in a row, including a victory over the Varsity Blues, after starting the year 2-2.
 
Saturday's game marks the first time the Gaels will play on the turf at York Stadium, as their last game in Toronto two years ago was played offsite at Centennial Park. The most recent meeting between these two teams resulted in a 57-10 win by the Gaels on their home field in Kingston, Ont., in Week 8 last year.
 
Fifth-year defensive end Hussein Hazime (Toronto), one of the team's graduating players, will look to go out in style as he needs just eight tackles to set the York record for most career tackles. He currently ranks second in the OUA with 47 tackles this season and is also third with five sacks.
 
On offence, rookie running back Jesse Amankwaa (Etobicoke, Ont.) will attempt to cap his strong first year with the program with another impressive showing. He ranks ninth in the OUA with 72.4 rushing yards per game and also has a pair of touchdowns, both coming in the win against the Warriors.
 
The Gaels will be led on offence by their running back, Jesse Andrews, who is the leading rusher in the OUA with 147.6 yards per game. He has also added four touchdowns. On defence their leading tackler is Jason Shamatutu with 37, ranking him sixth in the conference.
 
The OUA has one more week of the season next Saturday, where the Lions will be off with their bye. The Gaels, currently sitting fifth in the standings, will close against Laurier in a game that may decide one of the playoff spots.