Queen’s cruises to national semifinals in convincing fashion

LAVAL, QC—The one-two punch of Mika Matsukobu and Lizzie Gibson led the No. 2-seeded Queen's Gaels as they cruised to a 66-17 win over the No. 7 UPEI Panthers in the third quarterfinal of the U SPORTS Championship on Wednesday evening in Quebec City.

The Gaels got off to an early start through a try by Matsukobu in the second minute, which was converted in impressive fashion by Gibson. Two more tries by Matsukobu, and conversions by Gibson, later, it was 21-0 for the Gaels just 10 minutes into the game. The rest of the first half was the Lizzie Gibson Show, as she grounded the ball in the end zone twice and added another conversion. PEI did manage to break the Gaels scoring run with a try by Tessa Hood in the 28th minute, converted by Charlotte Branchflower, as well as a late try by Emma MacLean, but they trailed 38-12 at the interval.

The second half was a replay of the first with a pair of quick tries by the Gaels' Taylor Perry and Carmen Izyk – both of which were converted by Gibson. Ria Johnson replied for UPEI in the 52nd minute before late tries by Mathea MacRae and Matsukobu rounded out the scoring.

Gibson, who was responsible for 26 of her team's 66 points was named the player of the game for Queen's. MacLean won similar honours for UPEI.

The Panthers will head to the consolation round, where they will play the loser of the UBC-Laval game at 3 p.m. on Friday. Queen's advances to the championship semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m., where they will take on the UBC-Laval winner.