MONTREAL – Isaiah Cree scored four goals as McGill powered past Queen's 9-5 in a sudden-death wild-card playoff game at Percival Molson Stadium, Sunday.
 
The result booked a ticket for the Redbirds to compete at the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association's national championship, a six-team, three-game tournament slated for Nov. 4-6, in Peterborough, Ont. McGill will open with a quarter-final against Guelph on Friday at 4:30 p.m. It marks the 10th time in 11 seasons that McGill has qualified for the tourney, excluding the two missed years due to the pandemic. 
 
Sunday's win over Queen's gave the Redbirds a three-game sweep this season and extended a win streak to four in head-to-head confrontations with the Gaels.
 
McGill opened the scoring but the Gaels quickly responded to take its only lead of the game. The Redbirds led 5-2 after the first quarter, 6-3 at halftime and held a commanding 8-3 advantage after three quarters. The Gaels won the final stanza 2-1.
 
Cree, who registered his fourth hat-trick of the season, put his teammates ahead 1-0 and 3-2 in the first, then broke open the contest early in the third quarter with two markers in 63 seconds to give the redbirds an insurmountable 8-3 lead.
 
Teammate Rowan Birrell added a pair of goals, with singles going to Alexander Erbstein, John Miraglia and Mark Symon.
 
Reed Allen scored four times in a losing cause for the Gaels, who also had a goal from Grant Keefe.
 
Goaltender Joseph Boehm saved 13 of 18 shots for the win. For the visitors, Ryan Gemus conceded nine goal on 25 shots.
 
The Redbirds took five of the eight penalties called.
 
McGill will open its quest for a third-ever Baggataway Cup title in a sudden-death quarter-final against Guelph on Friday (Nov. 3) at 4:30 p.m. in Peterborough, located about four hours northwest of Montreal.
 
Aside from McGill, which posted a 7-3 regular season record, and Guelph (8-2), other teams who have qualified for the Baggataway Cup national championship include top-seeded Western (9-1) and Carleton (8-2), plus Brock (7-3) and Trent (8-2).
 
McGill has reached the final five times, including gold medal victories over Western in both 2012 and 2015. The three silver medal finishes were as a result of losses to Guelph in 2008, 2013 and 2014.
 
BOXSCORE
 
CUFLA STATS & STANDINGS


CUFLA BAGGATAWAY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
 
(at Justin Chiu Stadium, Peterboroough, Ont)
 
QUARTER-FINALS:
Friday, Nov. 3
4:30 pm McGill vs Guelph
7:30 pm Brock vs Trent
 
SEMIFINALS:
Saturday, Nov. 4
1:30 pm TBA vs Western
4:30 pm TBA vs Carleton
 
FINAL:
Sunday, Nov. 5
2 pm TBA vs TBA
 

 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca