GUELPH, Ont. – A busy week in October sees six Gryphon varsity teams in postseason action, highlighted by the women's rugby team looking to win back-to-back OUA Championships on Friday night in Kingston. Our rowing and cross country teams will also compete for an OUA championship this weekend, while the Gryphons field hockey heads to the University of Waterloo for the OUA Final Four tournament. The Gryphons women's soccer team hosts an OUA semifinal game on Saturday afternoon versus Queen's, while the Gryphon football teams heads to London for an OUA quarterfinal matchup against the Western Mustangs. See below for more information on all of the Gryphon teams in postseason action this week.
WOMEN'S RUGBY
OUA Women's Rugby Championship Final
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 7pm | Live Stream
Nixon Field | Kingston, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 2-seed) vs Queen's Gaels (No. 1-seed)
For the eighth consecutive season, the Gryphons and Queen's Gaels will face off in the OUA Championship game. The Gryphons return to Nixon Field as they look to make it back-to-back OUA championships and win their 19th conference title in program history. This will be the sixth straight season in which the women's rugby conference championship game has taken place in Kingston as the Gaels earned the opportunity to host this game after using a fast start to defeat the Gryphs 54-31 back on September 13 at Nixon Field. Both teams earned a spot in the OUA final with convincing semifinal wins and both have once again qualified for the U SPORTS Women's Rugby Championship tournament (Oct. 29-Nov. 2, Vancouver, BC). Friday night's OUA championship game from Nixon Field in Kingston can be seen live online at oua.tv.
ROWING
OUA Rowing Championships
Friday, October 24 - Saturday, October 25, 2025
Henley Rowing Course | St. Catharines, ON
Results: Regatta Central
The Gryphons rowing team will make their way to St. Catharines for the 2025 OUA Rowing Championships. 43 student-athletes will represent the U of G at provincials with action beginning on Friday morning with the JV and novice races followed by the varsity races, with the finals taking place on Saturday to close out the two-day championship event. The rowing team had their best ever finish at the OUA's last season when the women's team finished in 3rd-place in the overall team standings and the men placing in 5th-place. The Gryphs earned bronze medal finishes last season in the open men's pair, lightweight men's single and JV men's double.
CROSS COUNTRY
OUA Cross Country Championships
Saturday, October 25, 2025
CFP Kingston Fort Henry | Kingston, ON
Women's 8km Race - 11am | Men's 8km Race - 12pm
The Gryphons men's cross country team heads to Kingston looking to reclaim their spot on the top of the OUA podium after winning the silver medal last season, while the U of G women's cross country team eyes a return to the OUA podium after a 5th-place finish a season ago. The men's team will be led by a trio of OUA First Team All-Stars in the likes of
Max Davies,
Jack Lehto and
Christian Rachner. Toronto native
Max Davies returns for his fourth-year after having earned the University of Guelph's Men's Athlete of the Year award in each of the past two seasons. Davies finished 2nd overall at last year's OUA Cross Country Championships in North Bay and impressed in his only event of the 2025 cross country season at the Marauder BayFront Open, coming in 2nd-place.
Jack Lehto, last year's bronze medalist at OUA's, has a pair of top 5 finishes to his name which includes a 2nd-place finish at the Vigars and Salter Western Invitational.
Christian Rachner rounds out this group of experienced runners, finishing in 7th-place in North Bay last year and has two top 20 finishes on the season. Last year's OUA Rookie of the Year,
Luke Feltham, will be part of the team in Kingston as he has a 6th-place finish at the Don Mills Open this season.
Charles Mills will be competing in his second provincial championship after coming in 19th at last season's event.
Nicolas Belan and
Nolan Buie will make their OUA Cross Country Championship debuts.
The women's side will be led by fourth-year biomedical engineering major
Alexandra McDougall. The Port Perry, ON native has had a sensational 2025 season winning both the Vigars and Salter Western Invitational and Marauder BayFront Open as she is poised for a strong performance in Kingston.
Michelle Gray,
Nicole Hartnell and
Maeve Pestonji bring plenty of experience as they were part of the Gryphons team that took home a silver medal at the 2023 OUA Cross Country Championships. Gray in her fourth season with the team has a top 10 finish on the season, coming in 7th at the Don Mills Open.
Jocelyn Giannotti and
Leah Stapleton both will compete in their second provincial championships. Stapleton has a top 5 finish to her name at the Don Mills Open as she crossed the line in 5th.
Anna May will make her debut in the OUA Cross County Championship as she's placed in the top 30 in all three events, including an 8th-place showing this season.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
OUA Semifinal
Saturday, October 25, 2025 – 1pm
Gryphon Soccer Complex | Guelph, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 1-seed OUA West) vs Queen's Gaels (No. 2-seed OUA East)
The Gryphons women's soccer team are back in the OUA semifinal stage for a second consecutive season, this time serving as the hosts, as they are set to take on the Queen's Gaels for the right to earn a spot in the OUA title game, as well as a berth at nationals. The Gryphs in their quarterfinal matchup against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks got a 53rd minute goal from
Olivia Rizakos from the penalty spot in their 1-0 win. The Gaels defeated the Nipissing Lakers by the very same 1-0 scoreline to advance. Guelph and Queen's have met in the playoffs as recently as 2021 where it was the Gaels who defeated the Gryphons 2-0 in the quarterfinals. The Gryphs are looking to advance to the OUA Championship game for the first time since 2017 where they eventually became OUA Champions for the program's first and only OUA title. Guelph came close last season but fell in penalties to Ottawa in the conference semifinals. The winner of Saturday afternoon's Guelph/Queen's matchup will book their spot to the 2025 U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championships in Hamilton taking place from November 6 to 9. Should Guelph defeat the Gaels on Saturday afternoon, they would face the winner of the Western Mustangs/Toronto Varsity Blues semifinal matchup. If the Varsity Blues win, the OUA title game would be held in Toronto. If the Western Mustangs defeat the Varsity Blues, Guelph could have the chance to host an OUA title game.
FOOTBALL
OUA Quarterfinals
Saturday, October 25, 2025 – 1pm | Live Stream
Western Alumni Stadium | London, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 7-seed) at Western Mustangs (No. 2-seed)
For the third time in a calendar year, the Gryphons and Mustangs will faceoff in London with a spot in next week's OUA semifinals on the line. The Gryphons are entering this one on a high after
defeating the York Lions 34-27 in their regular season finale and getting some help from the out-of-town scoreboard to get the final playoff spot with a 3-5 record. On the other side, the Western Mustangs will be looking to bounce back after last week's disappointment which saw them lose to the Laurier Golden Hawks, 60-13, with Laurier leaving London with the top spot in the OUA and the first-round bye, relegating Western to the No. 2-seed in the OUA playoff picture and a home quarterfinal matchup with the Gryphons.
These two teams met earlier in the season in Week 2 where Jack Kelly and Ethan Dolby each had 100 yards on the ground as the Mustangs came away with the 53-33 win.
Last season, Guelph and Western met in the semifinals as a 4th quarter touchdown from Western proved to be the difference in their 30-19 win. Just like the previous two meetings, this one will take place from Western Alumni Stadium in London.
Tristan Aboud will need to be sharp to take advantage of a Mustangs defence that has given up their fair share of points this season, allowing an average of 30.8 yards per game. Aboud (Montreal, QC) had a strong game in the matchup earlier in season before he left due to injury at the tail end of the first half, completing 16 of his 23 passes for 231 yards and a touchdown.
Marshall McCray saw extended time at QB in the week 2 matchup between Guelph and Western, and the dual-threat QB had a phenomenal day on the ground rushing for 130 yards on 16 carries and finding the end zone twice. The human kinetics major also completed 6 passes for 73 yards.
Marshall McCray finished the 2025 regular season with 10 rushing touchdowns in 8 games.
The Gryphon defence is much improved from their meeting with Western earlier in the season. The Gryphon defence has done a much better job at limiting the opposition in yards and points allowed since that Week 2 encounter. The U of G defence will need to be on their game when facing one of the premier playmakers in the entire conference in Mustangs running back Ethan Dolby. Dolby led the conference with 136 carries, 1,263 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Back in Week 2's matchup between Guelph and Western, Dolby recorded an 84-yd TD run to help seal the Mustangs win over the Gryphons. Braeden McDougall,
Jevaun Jacobsen and
Deemetrius Masuka will play a big role on defence for Guelph as all three players are coming off outstanding regular seasons.
The winner of Saturday afternoon's game in London will advance to the OUA semifinals with their opponent to be determined at the conclusion of all three OUA quarterfinal games. Saturday's quarterfinal game from Western Alumni Stadium in London kicks off at 1pm and can be seen online at oua.tv.
FIELD HOCKEY
OUA Field Hockey Championship Tournament (Final Four)
Saturday, October 25 - Sunday, October 26, 2025
Warrior Field (University of Waterloo) | Waterloo, ON
Saturday, October 25
1pm (OUA Semifinal) – Waterloo Warriors (No. 1-seed OUA West) vs Toronto Varsity Blues (No. 2-seed OUA East)
3pm (OUA Semifinal) – Guelph Gryphons (No. 2-seed OUA West) vs York Lions (No. 1-seed OUA East)
Sunday, October 26
12pm (Bronze Medal Game) – Loser of Guelph/York vs Loser of Waterloo/Toronto
2:30pm (Gold Medal Game) – Winner of Guelph/York vs Winner of Waterloo/Toronto
After a strong regular season in which the team posted a 7-1-2 record, the Gryphons field hockey team heads to the University of Waterloo this weekend for the 2025 OUA Field Hockey Final Four. The Gryphons ended their regular season with a 3-2 loss on the road at the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday (Oct. 19), in a game that determined who would be the top seed in the OUA West. Now, the Gryphons will return to the University of Waterloo, this time with their sights set on capturing an OUA banner. For Guelph to make a return trip to the OUA championship game, they will first need to get past the York Lions in their OUA semifinal match on Saturday afternoon (3pm). Last season, the Gryphons defeated the York Lions in dramatic fashion (2-1, penalty shootout) in the semifinal, en route to Guelph earning OUA silver medals. The Gryphons and Lions met earlier this season in Guelph back on September 20 in the season opener for both teams, where it ended in a 1-1 draw. The Gryphons are led by reigning U SPORTS Player of the Year, Abby Warriner, who leads the team with 7 goals on the season. The winner of this weekend's OUA Field Hockey Final Four will qualify for the 2025 U SPORTS Field Hockey Championships in PEI which take place from October 30 to November 2 in Charlottetown.
