Queen’s Golden Gaels took 33 shots at Toronto Blues goaltender Valencia Yordanov Sunday afternoon but they couldn’t put anything past her, as they dropped a 2-0 Ontario University Athletics women’s hockey game at the Invista Centre.

The defeat cost the Gaels an opportunity to gain ground on the Blues, who concluded the weekend tied with Nipissing for second place with 44 points. Queen’s, which defeated Ryerson 5-2 on Saturday afternoon, is in fifth place with 39 points, one ahead of sixth-place Waterloo and three behind fourth-place Western, with a game in hand.

In Sunday’s game, the Gaels outshot the visitors 14-7 in the first period, and had numerous opportunities during a 5-on-3 power play, but the period ended in a scoreless tie. Jacqueline Scheffel scored for Toronto midway through the second period and an empty-net goal by Taylor Day in the final minute sealed the Gaels’ fate.

On Saturday, rookie Katrina Manoukarakis scored three goals to lead Queen’s past Ryerson. It was the second three-goal game of the year for Manoukarakis, who has 14 goals for the season, second most in the league, including seven in her last four games.

Addi Halladay and Amber Sealey had the other goals for Queen’s. Taryn Pilon and Courtenay Jacklin each had three assists for the Gaels, who jumped to a 2-0 lead, were tied 2-2 at the end of the first period and took a 4-2 lead into the third.

Caitlin Lahonen made 24 saves for her 13th victory of the season.

The Gaels will conclude their regular schedule next weekend with games at Laurier and Brock.