WATERLOO, Ont. – The Golden Hawks men's rugby team opened its 2026 OUA season on Sunday afternoon at University Stadium, dropping a 31-19 decision to the Queen's Gaels.

The matchup marked Laurier's first meeting with Queen's since the Gaels ended the Golden Hawks' undefeated 2025 campaign in the OUA semifinals.

Laurier appeared poised to do just that early on. In the eighth minute, Lucas Murchison crossed the try line for the first Golden Hawks score of the season before Devonne Henry added the conversion to give the hosts a 7-0 advantage.

The Golden Hawks carried the lead deep into the opening half; however, the visitors broke through on the final play before halftime, as Brian Barron touched down to trim Laurier's advantage to 7-5 heading into the break.

Queen's seized momentum early in the second half. A try from Dexter Tornquist less than six minutes after the restart, followed by a conversion from Adam Stander, gave the Gaels their first lead of the afternoon at 12-7.

The visitors continued to build on that momentum as Ben Greenstein and Barron added tries midway through the half. Chase Kotlerson converted Barron's score before Colin Quinn crossed the line late in the contest, with Kotlerson adding another conversion to extend the Queen's lead to 31-7.

Despite the deficit, Laurier continued to push until the final whistle. Ben Calconi broke through for a try in the 78th minute, and Henry's conversion cut the margin to 17 points.

Calconi added a second try in the dying moments of the match.

Murchison and Calconi led the Golden Hawks offensively with the squad's three tries, while Henry finished with four points off two successful conversions.

Next up is the first Battle of Waterloo of the season as the Golden Hawks head down the street to face the Waterloo Warriors at CIF Field on Sunday afternoon.

Waterloo enters the rivalry matchup with momentum after opening its campaign with a 28-21 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.