Saturday, February 25, 2012

Spring Invitational


Well, it's been a while since my last post, and I apologize for this. Things have been quite hectic as of late. With that being said, I wanted to give you an update regarding the program.

Recruiting is going well so far. Over the next few weeks, I will update this blog to highlight our 2012 recruiting class as they commit to Queen's. Just to give you a heads up, are target positions this year is a centre midfielder, striker and goalkeeper. While we have extremely talented returning players in this position, we need to bring in a wealth of youth to keep them on their toes. More to come in a few weeks time...

We are finalizing details for our 2012 US exhibition tour in August. This will be a wonderful opportunity for our team to play top level competition prior to the start of the season. As a coaching staff, we are excited to see where we stand with respect to Div 1, 2 and 3 schools in the US. We have had success in the past, drawing twice with Cornell over the past two seasons.

Finally, the last piece of exciting news is that we will be hosting our first ever Spring Invitational Soccer Tournament for U16, U17, and U18 Boys divisions on beautiful Tindall Field on April 21-22. Club teams will be able to kick-start their 2012 summer season in a round-robin format against top teams from across the province. We're excited to be able to host this tournament and look forward to welcoming teams to our beautiful campus.

Thank you for continuing to follow my blog, and I will make every effort to give you updates over the next few weeks, specifically with respect to the 2012 recruiting class.

Yours in soccer,

Chris

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

The most dreaded newsletter of the season – our sudden death loss to Ryerson 71-66 that has now ended our year.

We got off to a great start, building an early double digit lead, only to have Ryerson scrap their way back to cut it to 6 at the quarter, 22-16. The second quarter was a back and forth affair with each team scoring 16 points. The third quarter was our undoing as our scoring dried up and we were unable to contain Ryerson. They outscored us 22-9 leaving us with a 7 point deficit. The fourth quarter was another back and forth affair, with Ryerson building a lead and us battling back. Ultimately, we could not stop their scoring as they put up another 17 points. We did outscore them with 19 of our own, but not enough to overcome the 9 point margin. The final: 71-66.

Brittany Moore finished her amazing 5 year career dropping 19 points, including 3 for 3 from beyond the 3pt. line. Jenny Wright had a strong game with 12 points and 8 rebounds, while Sydney Kernahan posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

Brittany Moore finished fourth in the OUA scoring race this season with 17.2 points per game – good for 10th in Canada. (Of course, Britt also captured 2nd place in the all-time OUA scoring race and 1st in Q's basketball history, as mentioned in the last newsletter). Our team improved from 13-24 last season (7-15 in league play), to 21-13 this season (12-10 in league play).

Next on our team’s agenda is our Colour Awards (Athletic) Banquet at the end of March. I’ll let you know how team and university awards go shortly thereafter.

Thanks for all your support.

Sincerely,

Dave.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A very successful road weekend as we grabbed two wins to finish off the regular season, beating York 69-49 and Laurentian 64-58. The wins moved us into 4th place and will therefore host Ryerson on Wednesday at 6pm.

As I am a little pressed for time, I will defer to our Sports Information people’s accounts of the games:

SID vs. York: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/2/17/WBB_YOR17022012.aspx?path=wbball

SID vs. Laurentian: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/2/18/gyjgffgtyjdt.aspx?path=wbball

With the wins, we finish 12-10 in league play. The only downside on the weekend was that Meaghan MacDougall went down early in the game against Laurentian with a knee injury. We don’t know the full extent of the damage at this point, but she will not be able to play this week.

Brittany Moore finished her league career with 1,652 points, good for 2nd all-time in OUA history. That means through all her years, she averaged over 15 points per game – outstanding!!

Up Next at Home:

Wednesday, February 22 vs. Ryerson 6pm (tickets available at the door per OUA playoff regulations)

Winner will play in the Nation’s Capital on Saturday (either Ottawa or Carleton depending on the outcome of the Toronto vs. York playoff game).

Cheers,

Dave.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Heading into the Playoffs



The regular season has ended and now we prepare for our playoff run. The second half was much closer to what we anticipated our season looking like, as we went 7 & 2 in the 2012 campaign, after a 5 & 4 first half. Our last five matches have gone 3-0, our efficiency has improved both out of service reception and in transition, and we are playing with lots of confidence.

A reporter asked me yesterday what our challenges are going into the playoffs. "Well, there are several", I told him. I believe the first challenge is within ourselves. Because we know we are in the CIS regardless, we have to make sure we play with the same level of urgency that our opponents play with. Their seasons are over if they don't win. Ours isn't. We need to play like it is. We need to manage our side of the court and play with the same intensity and urgency that our opponents play with. At the same time we need to play each rally as an individual game and earn our points, while not giving away points; staying efficient while being aggressive.

Our second challenge is Guelph. While we were serving for the match against them on our court in the winter, we didn't finish. They have proven that if you give them an opening, they will take it. We need to push from beginning to end. If we do that, the outcome will take care of itself.

The game should be great preparation for the CIS Championships. We hope for a big crowd. Whenever we have a large and engaged crowd, it is like having an extra player on the floor.

I hope you will come out and support us on our quest for the OUA Championships!
Saturday February 18th at 7pm, right here in the Main Gym of the ARC.

Go Gaels Go!!!!
Brenda

Monday, February 13, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A very tough weekend facing the number 5 and number 6 ranked teams in the country. We were steam-rolled by Ottawa 83-46 and then dropped a hard-fought battle to Carleton 67-53.

Brittany Moore managed a tough 23 points on the weekend which means she is tied for second place on the all-time OUA scoring list, and two league games remaining. An unbelievable accomplishment by Britt!

In our game against Ottawa, we were dominated from the opening tip off, surrendering 26 points in the first quarter, while only managing 8. Our offense improved somewhat in the second scoring 15 points, but still giving up 25. Our defense tightened a little in the third quarter as we outscored Ottawa 15-13, but in the fourth Ottawa dominated again, 19-9 to finish 83-46.

Brittany Moore finished with 12 points, while Liz Boag added 10.

SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/2/10/geggesk.aspx?path=wbball

Carleton, ranked one spot ahead of Ottawa, also got off to a strong start, outscoring us 20-12 in the first quarter. In a defensive struggle (the polite way to say no one could hit a shot), the second quarter saw us out-defend Carleton 9-8. Carleton increased their lead in the third 21-15. We took a couple of good runs at them in the fourth, reducing the margin to under 10 on a couple of occasions, only to finish down 67-53.

Three players finished with double digits in scoring: Brittany Moore and Liz Boag with 11 and Jenny Wright with 10. Sydney Kernahan was once again a beast on the boards with 11.

SID report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/2/11/carleton.aspx?path=wbball

At half time of the Carleton game we recognized the parents (and grandparents) of our players, while following the game we paid tribute to our graduating athletes: Christine Wallace and Brittany Moore.

We currently sit in 5th place, one game behind Ryerson. Ottawa has locked up 1st place, with Carleton & Toronto battling for the 2nd/3rd position. We know that we play Ryerson in the first round of the playoffs. What’s unclear is whether we will be on the road or at home – all comes down to this weekend’s play.

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, February 17 @ York 6pm
Saturday, February 18 @ Laurentian 6pm

First Round of Playoffs:
Wednesday, February 22 -- Ryerson vs. Queen’s (location tbd)

Have a great week.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Dave.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Women's Basketball - Game Report

Hi Folks,

A weekend sweep of cross-town rivals RMC (60-53 on Friday & 72-45 on Saturday) has pushed us over the .500 mark, now with a 10-8 record, good for fourth spot in the Eastern Division behind Ottawa, Carleton & Toronto.

Our game on Friday was an unfocused affair, shooting only 26% from the floor, 25% from outside the arc and a dismal 50% from the foul line. RMC won the first quarter 17-15, before we got going in the second quarter, 17-8 in our favour. We opened an 11 point lead by the end of the third, 47-36, but RMC battled back to within 3 points with less than 2 minutes to go. Back to back 3-pointers by Meaghan MacDougall, however, preserved the win, 60-53.

Brittany Moore carried the team scoring almost 50% of our points with 29, the only player to reach double digits in scoring. Sydney Kernahan grabbed 10 rebounds.

Interesting note, The Kingston Whig-Standard published the following headline: “Paladins upset Gaels in women's hoops”. My only thought was that I hope they weren’t trying to forecast Saturday’s game.

Q’s SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/2/3/cvcvcvc.aspx?path=wbball

We were much more focused and relaxed back in the confines of the ARC on Saturday night, although we were not exactly quick out of the gate. We won the first quarter 15-11 before tightening up our defence in the second, only surrendering 6, while scoring 19. The third quarter saw lots of scoring as we dropped 25 to RMC’s 16 to open up a 59-33 lead. We slowed a bit in the fourth, outscoring RMC 13-12 to finish with the 72-45 win.

Rachael Urosevic potted 12 points in the game going 4 for 7 from beyond the arc. Brittany Moore was outstanding again, scoring 21 points (50 for the two games) which now moves her into sole possession of 4th spot in the OUA all-time scoring race. She is 21 points behind third place (Jodi Ebling) and 23 points behind second place (Amanda Anderson) with 4 games left on our league schedule. Britt has amassed an amazing 1,603 points so far in her career!

Q’s SID Report: http://www.gogaelsgo.com/news/2012/2/4/thfht.aspx?path=wbball

Up Next at Home:
Friday, February 10 vs. Ottawa 6pm
Saturday, February 11 vs. Carleton 6pm (Graduating Athlete’s Night)

Up Next on the Road:
Friday, February 17 @ York 6pm
Saturday, February 18 @ Laurentian 6pm

Have a great week!

Dave.