MONTREAL – Isaiah Cree produced an inspirational three-goal performance as McGill crowned Queen's 12-5 to highlight the inaugural men's lacrosse Legacy Game, Friday, commemorating the Indigenous roots of the sport and National Truth & Reconciliation Day, before a crowd of 580 at Percival Molson Stadium.

The result was a fourth consecutive victory for the third-place Redbirds, who improved to 4-1 and moved four points ahead of Queen's (2-3) in seven-team CUFLA East Division.

McGill led 3-1 after the opening quarter, 6-2 at halftime and 10-3 after three. Despite the lopsided score, both teams put their intense and often bitter rivalry aside after the game to form a circle of solidarity, arm-in-arm, at midfield, wearing specially-made orange T-shirts to commemorate the occasion.

"It was a special day... wonderful to be part of that game," said Cree in a post-game interview with the McGill Streaming Network. "It was great to have both teams be a part of it, with orange shirts... and coming together at the end of the game."

This was the second hat-trick in as many nights for Cree, who hails from the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation in upstate New York. Less than 24 hours earlier, the six-foot, 205-pound attacker had tallied his first career three-goal game in a 10-2 road victory at Bishop's.

On what was an emotional occasion for Cree, the 22-year-old senior in international development studies, put McGill ahead 3-1 with just 100 seconds remaining in the first quarter. He upped the score to 8-2 with six minutes to go in the third stanza and completed his hat-trick early in the final quarter to put the Redbirds ahead 11-3.

"It's good to see him performing so well this season," said McGill head coach Nicolas Soubry, who noted that Cree had overcome significant adversity after missing a lot of games with injuries over his four years, including two missed contests this season. "I could sense that he was stepping up his game earlier this week during practice and he had a lot of energy. This was obviously a big week for him in general and hopefully it will continue for the rest of the year."

McGill's John Miraglia led all scorers with five points, including a pair of goals. Teammates Ethan Forgrave and Rowan Birrell also tallied twice for the victors, with singles going to Cameron McGinnis, Dylan James and Josh Jewell.

Reed Allen potted a pair of goals to pace the Gaels, with single markers coming from Carter McKenzie, Zachary Glazebrook and Noah Milsap.

The Redbirds had a 16-12 margin in shots as netminder Joseph Boehm made seven saves for the win. Gaels starter Ryan Gemus conceded 11 goals on 14 shots before giving way to understudy Quinton Greenfield with 5:31 remaining in the contest. Greenfield was beaten on one of two shots faced.

Eleven penalties were called in the game, six of them to the Gaels.

Both teams return to action on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. Fourth-place Queen's (2-3) will host winless Nipissing (0-5) while McGill (4-1) will look to extend its four-game win streak when the team travels to Ottawa for a rendezvous with Carleton (2-3).

NOTES: The game was preceded by a 10-minute ceremony, initiated by a drumming performance and honour song from Mi'kmaq artist Allex Allard-Gray.

Commemorative orange shirts, designed by Isabelle Zwicker, an Anishinaabeg student in the faculty of law, were sold in support of the Native Friendship Centre and served to remember the children, survivors and families impacted by residential and day schools.

McGill head coach Nic Soubry spoke to the crowd about roots of lacrosse being an Indigenous game and that the University was located on land that once served as a site of meeting and exchange among Indigenous peoples.

Aneeka Anderson, from the McGill Office of Indigenous Initiatives, read a message on behalf of Mohawk faith-keeper and elder Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell.

A number of Indigenous student-athletes were recognized, including McGill lacrosse's Isaiah Cree and Hawkeye Hamilton of the Queen's lacrosse squad.

Names of four additional McGill athletes were highlighted, namely Makenzie McCallum (w. hockey), in addition to Mikisiw Awashish (m.Hockey), Dakota Stevenson (m. rugby) and Liam Gi-Kwong (football).

The pre-game ceremony was concluded by some words of support from Geoffrey Phillips, executive director of McGill Athletics & Recreation.

The halftime show featured a riveting smoke and pow-wow style dance, with performers from Kahnawake. The dance troupe was composed of Nashtyn Mayo, Owen Mayo, Kaiewate Jacobs, Lakorennaientatie Alfred, Lakorihwiióstha Two-Axe, Kwena Bellemare-Boivin and Teioronhiáthe Phillips.

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