The McMaster men's rugby squad travelled to Kingston to face the defending OUA champion Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon and suffered its first loss of the season, dropping a 27-11 contest.

The game was much closer than the final score would indicate and the Marauders showed they can compete with the OUA champs.  McMaster took an early lead on a try from Jack McRogers, although the conversion attempt missed.  The Gaels responded and Michael Douros crossed the touchline and Dylan Young added the convert to take a 7-5 lead.

The rest of the first half saw Young from Queen's and McMaster's Will Kelly exchange penalty goals, with two each and at halftime, the home team held on to the two-point advantage at 13-11.
 
The second half was a tough clash between evenly matched rivals, and McMaster threatened to cross the try line on several occasions, only to see the Queen's defense stiffen and deny the Marauders when they were close to the score zone. 

The Gaels were able to swing the momentum late in the match, and with less than 10 minutes left Queen's found some space and took advantage, as Brendon Blaikic and Kai Lloyd both broke through the Mac defense to score, with Mason Dingwall adding the conversions.

McMaster was unable to score in the second-half, although the match ended with the Marauders threatening the Gaels' goal-line right up to the final whistle.

The Marauders OUA record falls to 3-1 and they will next face the Waterloo Warriors at home on Saturday, October 1^st as part of McMaster's Homecoming festivities.  Game time is set for 5-pm on the 10-acre field.