Ben McCreary still uses his iPhone 6, the version of the most popular cell phone in the world released back in 2014. The graduate student at Le Moyne clicks on his home button to unlock his phone. McCreary’s teammates tease him about his archaic technology.

“People still chirp me today,” he said. “They say, ‘Hey, that’s your phone? I thought it was an iPod.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, shut it up.’”

He’s in no rush to upgrade, despite Apple releasing the iPhone 13.

“I have plenty of cracks on it and stuff, but I have too many pictures on it, so I want to keep it,” he said. “I honestly don’t want a big, huge phone. I like my phone.”

McCreary’s old-school preferences carry over to his lacrosse game. A bruising midfielder out of Cicero, New York, the All-American has developed into an offensive threat but prides himself most on the throwback appeal of big hits, bull dodges and timely shooting — a style he developed playing box lacrosse with the Onondaga Redhawks during summers as an alternative to hockey. He didn’t start playing field lacrosse until he was 14.

“We just loved his toughness,” Le Moyne coach Dan Sheehan said. “That hockey player mentality.”

McCreary scored 26 goals last season, as Le Moyne went undefeated and captured its sixth NCAA championship. But his impact goes beyond the stat sheet. His toughness made it a pain to defend him and equally as difficult to beat the Dolphins’ ride.

“He’s 5-foot-9 and plays a lot bigger with the contact that he initiates,” Sheehan said. “It was just getting him to understand that if you’re throwing your body around the way he was, it’s going to be tough to maintain. You don’t have to end up on the ground every time you dodge.”

McCreary brings the same intensity to practices.

“It’s a little creepy and weird,” McCreary said. “I had some of the best defensemen playing against me and after practice, my whole right shoulder would be black and blue. They’d be like, ‘Jesus, what’s that from?’ I’m like, ‘It was you.’ I loved it.”

Playing box lacrosse on the Onondaga Reservation as one of the few non-Native runners gave McCreary an edge. When he reached high school at Christian Brothers Academy, he bonded with then-coach Ric Beardsley, the former Syracuse great and one of the most electric personalities in the game. Together, they won the New York Class D championship in 2017, McCreary’s senior year. It was the Warriors’ first-ever state title.

“The more he gets hacked, the more he wants to play,” Beardsley said. “He’s sick in the head, a little bit. We would replace his jersey every year because it would get sliced.”

McCreary doesn’t need the ball in his stick to be successful. With Lindenwood transfer Carter Collins now in the fold, he won’t be the Dolphins’ sole initiator on offense. However, he’s just fine using his body and creating chaos.

He’ll do so wearing No. 12 in honor of his friend and late teammate Kaiden Tubbert, who died by suicide in March 2020. McCreary asked Tubbert’s parents for their permission.

“He’s there with me. He’s on my chest,” McCreary said. “It’s really special having him be a part of me. I know he’ll always be a special part of my life.”