PETERBOROUGH, ONT – Senior Isaiah Cree of Akwesasne, N.Y., scored five goals and was one of three teammates to register a hat-trick as third-seeded McGill pulled off a 13-9 upset over No. 2 Western to open the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association championship for the Baggataway Cup, Friday, at Justin Chiu Stadium on the campus of Trent University.

McGill, which improved to 4-5 lifetime against Western, advances to the tourney semifinal against host Trent on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Redbirds can reach the gold medal game for the sixth time with a victory over the Excalibur, a team that swept both previous meetings with McGill by scores of 10-8 in Montreal (Sept. 10) and 12-11 in Peterborough (Oct. 23).

"I was really impressed with the leadership from our seniors today," said McGill head coach Nicolas Soubry. "These guys just want it so much and you could see that today. There was no crumbling when the pressure was on. And our younger players are learning a lot from the attitude and commitment displayed by the veterans. They were able to take adversity and deal with it in a productive way."

The Redbirds and Mustangs were tied 3-3 after the opening quarter and knotted at 5-5 entering intermission of the sudden-death affair but McGill won the third stanza 3-2 and overcame a scare to win the final quarter 5-2.

Cree's fifth goal, only 58 seconds into the final stanza, put McGill ahead 8-7 and appeared to tilt the game in McGill's favour. It came less than two minutes after a miscommunication between McGill midfielder Dylan James, who had scored earlier, and goaltender Joseph Boehm, that resulted in an own goal that tied the game at 7-7.

"Everything on the bench was so tense before that own goal, which was kind of funny in a strange way," said Soubry. "It was one of those plays that kind of eased the tension, especially after Cree scored shortly after that.

"He consistently gets two or three goals every game and that just seems automatic for him. Cree works on his shooting stroke every day and you can see that from his ability to score, game after game."

Cree, in fact, set up freshman Rowan Birrell of North Vancouver, B.C., some 62 seconds later, to give the Redbirds a two-goal cushion. It was Birrell's third of four markers and proved to be the winning tally.

"What else can I say about Birrell's performance," mused Soubry about the 6-foot-2, 170-pound midfielder, a science freshman. "He's a 17-year-old playing lacrosse at a high level. He's a big guy, works really hard, is very quiet and gets the job done. There's just so much trust that our team has in him. He's a gamer and has moves that he's perfected. He uses his size to get separation from opponents and makes big plays. It's amazing to see someone like that who is so composed and ready to lead on offence."

The other big sniper for McGill was scoring leader Cameron McGinnis, who tallied three and set up another but suffered a lower-body injury with about four minutes remaining. He did not return and was spotted on the streaming broadcast standing by the bench with a pair of crutches.

The players of the game were Cree for McGill and Western's Scott Del Zotto, who found the back of the net four times. Rounding out the scoring for the Mustangs was Connor Murphy (2), Pierson Noble, Scott Burley and Chris da Silva.

Faceoff statistics were not available but McGill easily won more than 80 per cent of the draws, primarily taken by Samuel McDonald, a sophomore midfielder from Guelph, Ont.

"Sam has been winning a ton of faceoffs and the game is all about possession, so they are critical," said Soubry. "And every time there is a goal, we seem to get possession back by winning the draw. It's a huge factor and allows us to break any momentum that another team might get on us."

Western was flagged for three of the five penalties called, all of them in the final quarter when they lost their cool and self-destructed. Shots on goal were also not available but Joseph Boehm, the McGill keeper, made some critical saves for the win, while Michael Orlando took the loss for Western.

It marked a sudden end to a great season for the Mustangs, who finished second in the CUFLA West with a 9-1 record, outscoring opponents 112-49.

REDBIRDS RAP: Co-captain Ethan Foregrave missed the game as he was invited to a pro tryout with the National Lacrosse League's Saskachewan Rush.…This was the first time since 2011 that McGill had to play a Friday game at the three-day championship, since in all other years (2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019) the team had a first-round bye as the top-seed in the CUFLA East.

SCORING SUMMARY

TOURNAMENT SCORING SUMMARIES

CUFLA BAGGATAWAY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Nov. 4 - Quarter-finals
McGill 13, Western 9
Brock 8, Bishop's 7

Nov. 5 - Semifinals
1:30 pm McGill vs Trent 

4:30 pm Brock vs Guelph 
 

Nov. 7 - Championship Game
2 pm Winner SF #1 v SF #2

 

CUFLA Past Champions

Year	Champion	Finalist	Score
1985	Western	(not available)
1986	Brock	(not available)
1987	McMaster	Brock	17-16
1988	Western	Brock	14-10
1989	Brock	Western	12-6
1990	Brock	(not available)
1991	Brock	McMaster	14-7
1992	Brock	(not available)
1993	Brock	(not available)
1994	Brock	(not available)
1995	Guelph	(not available)
1996	Brock	Guelph
1997	Brock	Guelph
1998	Brock	Guelph	8-6
1999	Brock	Western
2000	Guelph	Brock	13-11
2001	Western	Brock	12-10
2002	Brock	Bishop's	9-8, 3OT
2003	Brock	Bishop's	10-5
2004	Brock	Bishop's	10-9
2005	Brock	Guelph	14-7
2006	Brock	Bishop's	11-8
2007	Brock	Guelph	13-10
2008	Guelph	McGill	14-9
2009	Brock	McMaster	12-11
2010	McMaster	Brock	11-10
2011	Bishop's	Brock	11-6
2012	McGill	Western	7-6, OT
2013	Guelph	McGill	14-11
2014	Guelph	McGill	15-12
2015	McGill	Western	15-11
2016	Western	Trent	11-7
2017	Western	Brock	16-14, 2OT
2018	Western	Brock	9-8, 2OT
2019	Western	Trent	8-5
2020	No Champion due to the	COVID-19 Pandemic
2021	Brock	Guelph	10-9, OT
2022	TBA

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)