GUELPH, Ont. – Just before we turn back the clocks, we look ahead to postseason action in the final week of October with seven Gryphons varsity teams in action with the women's rugby team kicking it off on Thursday (Oct. 29) in their OUA Championship game. Rowing and cross country will compete in their provincial championships, football begins their postseason in a rematch of last week's matchup against Windsor and both men and women's soccer teams are one more win away from a berth at nationals and a spot in the OUA gold medal game as they compete in OUA semifinal action. See below for more information on all of the Gryphon teams in postseason action this week.
WOMEN'S RUGBY
2026 Women's Rugby OUA Playoffs | OUA Championship Game
Thursday, October 29, 2026 – 7pm | Live Stream
Varsity Field | Guelph, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 1-seed) vs Queen's Gaels (No. 2-seed)
Familiar acquaintances meet once again for the 9th straight time in an OUA Championship game when the Gryphons women's rugby team hosts the Queen's Gaels. Two perennial OUA mainstays in women's rugby meet once again for a conference championship, but this time the OUA gold medal game will take place in Guelph, marking the first time since the 2018 season that the Gryphons have hosted the OUA women's rugby title game. The Gryphons earned home field for the title game, defeating the Gaels 22-19 on September 19 from Varsity Field. This marks the Gaels second of their three trips to Guelph this season, with Queen's also having already booked their spot to nationals (Nov. 4-to-8) by qualifying for the title game. The Gryphons defeated the Brock Badgers 60-7 qualify for the final while the Gaels defeated the Western Mustangs 86-5 in the other semifinal. The Gaels and Gryphons in the last two seasons have alternated winning the championship with Guelph winning in 2024 and Queen's in 2025. Thursday night's OUA championship game from Varsity Field can be seen live online at oua.tv.
ROWING
2026 OUA Rowing Championships
Friday, October 30 - Saturday, October 31, 2026
Henley Rowing Course | St. Catharines, ON | Hosted by Brock
Regatta Central
The Gryphons will make their way to a familiar site when they compete at 2026 OUA Rowing Championships from the Henley Rowing Course in St. Catharines. The Gryphons will be represented by 22 varsity women and 16 varsity men alongside 12 novice women and 8 novice men at the provincial championship. The two-day championship event will see the Novice/JV race in the mornings and varsity heats in the afternoon on Friday with the varsity finals on Saturday. On the women's side,
Ceilidh Aho in the W1x is a medal contender for Guelph as well as two women's eights (light and open weight) racing for the podium in straight finals. The men's side is led by
Franklin Goodfellow competing in the light men's single, and in the light men's double with
Connor Wideman.
MEN'S RUGBY
2026 Men's Rugby OUA Playoffs | OUA Semifinal
Friday, October 30, 2026 – 7pm
Varsity Field | Guelph, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 1-seed) vs Queen's Gaels (No. 4-seed)
The Gryphons begin their pursuit for their program-record 6th consecutive conference championship as they face a familiar opponent in the Queen's Gaels. This is the first time since the 2022 season, one of Guelph or Queen's won't be playing in the OUA Championship game after meeting in the last three championship games. Guelph is coming off a bye as the No. 1-seed in the conference while the Gaels defeated the RMC Paladins in the quarterfinals to earn their place in the semifinals. Both these teams met at Varsity Field on September 19 with the Gryphons coming away with the 61-17 win. The winner will qualify for the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships on November 17-21 from Langley, BC where the Gryphons are the current McTavish Cup holders.
CROSS COUNTRY
2026 OUA Cross Country Championships
Saturday, October 31, 2026
Malden Park | Windsor, ON | Hosted by Windsor
Women's 8km Race: 11am | Men's 8km Race: 12pm
The Gryphons head into the 2026 OUA Cross Country Championships with momentum on their side following an impressive showing at the Marauder Lakefront Invitational. The Gryphon men will look to return to the top of the podium following a pair of silver medal finishes in the team standings while the women's team looks to return to the podium after just missing out in 4th-place last season. The men's team will be led by two-time OUA individual bronze medalist and two-time U SPORTS All-Canadian
Jack Lehto. The fifth-year mechanical engineering major has had a phenomenal season for the Gryphons, winning both the Vigars and Salters Western Invitational and the Marauder Lakefront Open. Lehto has finished in 3rd-place in the provincial championships in the last two seasons as he looks to make it a third consecutive trip to the podium. The No. 4-ranked men's team is coming off a second-place showing in the team standings at the Marauder Lakefront Open.
The women's team is led by last year's OUA individual champion
Alexandra McDougall. McDougall, the fifth-year biomedical engineering major from Port Perry, ON has a 3rd and 6th-place showing this season and will look to win back-to-back individual championships. McDougall had a sensational season last season, winning individual gold at OUA's last season and winning the bronze medal at the U SPORTS Cross Country Championship earning her the title of OUA Runner of the Year. Fifth-year biological and pharmaceutical chemistry major
Michelle Gray brings plenty of experience as part of the 2023 team that took home a silver medal at the provincial championships. Gray has had a strong showing this season as the 2025 OUA Second Team All-Star has a pair of top 10 finishes. The No. 2-ranked women's team is coming off a first-place finish in the team standings at the Marauder Lakefront Open.
FOOTBALL
2026 Football OUA Playoffs | OUA Quarterfinal
Saturday, October 31, 2026 – 1pm | Live Stream
Windsor Alumni Field | Windsor, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 5-seed) at Windsor Lancers (No. 4-seed)
The Gryphons will meet the Windsor Lancers in back-to-back weeks with a spot in next week's OUA semifinals on the line. The Gryphons and Lancers met in the final game of the regular season on October 24 where the Lancers scored a late touchdown to secure the 27-23 win and clinch homefield advantage for the rematch in the quarterfinals.
Defences for both teams held both explosive offences in check, keeping both passing attacks to under 200 yards in the air. The difference in the game would turn out to be the Lancers turning a pair of turnovers into immediate defensive touchdowns in a closely contested matchup between the two teams.
The Gryphon defence will look to continue where they left off last Saturday against Lancers, forcing a pair of picks and holding Kareame Cotton to 195 passing and 62 rushing yards. Cotton has shown throughout the season as one of the top quarterbacks in the conference, finishing the regular season with 2080 passing yards, completing 67% of his passes and has thrown for an OUA best 25 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Cotton has shown his ability with his legs as the former receiver turned dual-threat QB has rushed for 439 yards on the season and found the end zone three times.
Kyle Simon-Guerin who had a pick last week will be tested once in the Gryphon secondary alongside
Gianni Green and
Nathaniel Slawter as the trio has shown to be one of the better back ends in the conference throughout the season.
Marshall McCray had a strong showing in relief at quarterback last week accounting for four touchdowns (1 passing, 3 rushing). The Gryphons will look for some offence in the passing game with fourth-year receiver
Willem Arseneau. Arseneau finished with 715 receiving yards on 40 receptions and caught three touchdowns. The offence will need to prevent turnovers against one of the best defences in the conference after turning it over three times. The Lancers have the second most interceptions (10) and sacks (24) in the conference as their defence can flip any game around in an instant, just like they did last week.
This is the first meeting in the playoffs between the Gryphons and Lancers since 2013, when Guelph defeated Windsor to advance to the semifinals.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
2026 Women's Soccer OUA Playoffs | OUA Semifinals
Saturday, October 31, 2026 – 1pm
Gryphon Soccer Complex | Guelph, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 1-seed in OUA West) vs Nipissing Lakers (No. 2-seed in OUA East)
The Gryphons for the second consecutive season will host an OUA semifinal match when they take on the Nipissing Lakers from the OUA East division. Guelph as the No. 1-seed in the OUA West division will host this matchup from the Gryphon Soccer Complex as they are coming off an impressive 3-0 win over the Western Mustangs in the quarterfinals. The Lakers scored three times in the second half to eliminate the 2025 OUA Champions Toronto Varsity Blues with the final score of 3-1 in their quarterfinal match. A stout Gryphon defence that has only conceded five goals all season will have to contend with Hannah Neville of the Lakers who was tied for the OUA lead with 16 goals. The Gryphs will look to advance to the OUA Championship game for the second straight season as a win would mean they would host the conference title game for the first time in program history. The winner of Saturday's Guelph/Nipissing matchup will also book their spot to the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship in Vancouver, BC taking place from November 12 to 15. Should Guelph defeat the Lakers on Saturday afternoon, they would host the winner of the York Lions/Ottawa Gee-Gees on November 7 in the OUA title game from the Gryphon Soccer Complex.
MEN'S SOCCER
2026 Men's Soccer OUA Playoffs | OUA Semifinals
Saturday, October 31, 2026 – 3pm
Vaso's Field | Oshawa, ON
Guelph Gryphons (No. 5-seed in OUA West) at Ontario Tech Ridgebacks (No. 2-seed in OUA East)
The magical postseason run for the Gryphons men's soccer team continues Saturday (Oct. 31) when they continue their journey on the road in Oshawa against Ontario Tech. The Gryphons have been road warriors during the postseason posting a pair of wins to earn their spot in the semifinals. Guelph in the preliminary round took the short trip down Highway 7 and defeated the Waterloo Warriors 4-1 before pulling off one of the biggest upsets in program history three days later in Toronto in the quarterfinals, eliminating the reigning national champions York Lions, 3-1. Opposing the Gryphons is the No. 2-seed in the OUA East, the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. The Ridgebacks had the bye and started their postseason with a 2-0 win at home over the Trent Excalibur. Guelph, ranked No. 7 in the latest U SPORTS Top 10 rankings, will head to Ontario Tech on Saturday without the services of their top scorer
Ambrose Tinmouth, who is sitting out this game after picking up his second yellow card late in the quarterfinals against York. The Ridgebacks are led by Erion Metaj up front who scored 4 goals in his 10 regular season games. The winner of Saturday afternoon's Guelph/Ontario Tech matchup will qualify for the 2026 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championships in Victoria, BC from November 12 to 15. The Gryphs last qualified for nationals 2021 as it was also the last time they were OUA Champions. Should the Gryphons advance to the OUA Championship game, they will continue their journey on the road as they will face the winner of the other semifinal match between the McMaster Marauders and TMU Bold.
