Women's Rugby | 9/4/2025 2:34:00 PM

To be the best, you have to beat the best.

That's what the York University Lions women's rugby team will look to do Saturday when they travel to Kingston to take on the Queen's Gaels in their first road game of the 2025 season. 

The Gaels – last year's OUA silver and U SPORTS bronze medalists – are a perennial powerhouse, and a team the Lions are looking to emulate as they build their program back toward becoming one that can contend for a provincial and national medal. 

The Lions are 0-1 on the young season, as they dropped their home opener to the Laurier Golden Hawks last Saturday. The Gaels, meanwhile, are 1-0 on the season, without having played a game. They earned a 20-0 win by forfeit over the Toronto Varsity Blues in their opener. 

Despite the loss on Saturday, the Lions did show some flashes offensively. Namely, York women's athlete of the week Mistura Are provided all four tries the Lions scored in the match. Are, a third-year health studies major from Barrie, Ont., will look to keep the strong start to her season going in this one. 

This will be the first time the Lions and Gaels have met since 2022, when the Gaels picked up the victory in the season opener over York at Alumni Field. The Lions will look to earn the upset win over the Gaels and improve to 1-1 on the season, before returning home next weekend to take on the Waterloo Warriors. 

Kickoff is set for 2:00 pm from Nixon Field. You can stream the match for free, live on OUA.tv.