The 2016 Major League Lacrosse season was the 16th season of Major League Lacrosse. The season featured 9 teams (all in the United States) after the addition of the Atlanta Blaze via expansion.[1] It was the first season since 2008 that the league fielded more than eight teams. The defending champion New York Lizards were coming off their third Steinfeld Cup victory in franchise history and first since 2003 after defeating the Rochester Rattlers 15–12 August 8, 2015 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.[2] On August 20, the Denver Outlaws won their second Steinfeld Cup trophy in three years, coming back to defeat the Ohio Machine, 19–18.
The 2016 season was a particularly unusual one. Going into the final week of the regular season, all four playoff spots were still up for grabs. In the end, seven teams finished at 8–6. With the tiebreaker procedures, the teams that were rewarded with a playoff berth were the Ohio Machine, New York Lizards, Denver Outlaws (who had started the season 2–6), and the Charlotte Hounds. The 8–6 teams left out of the postseason were the Boston Cannons, Chesapeake Bayhawks, and Rochester Rattlers. 2016 was the first season since the season expanded to 14 games and no team finished with more than eight wins.
Milestones & events
August 8, 2015 - An expansion team is announced to play in Atlanta as the Blaze.
March 23 - The MLL announces the 2016 Steinfeld Cup would be held in Atlanta at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.[5] It will be the third consecutive championship game held in greater Atlanta. The 2015 championship game was the most attended game in Steinfeld Cup history.
Atlanta Blaze - John Tucker, becomes the first head coach and general manager of the expansion franchise.[7] On July 21, 2016, the Blaze fired Tucker after a 3-7 start and replaced him with assistant head coach Dave Huntley.[8]
Boston Cannons - Sean Quirk replaced John Tucker, who became the first head coach and general manager of the expansion team Atlanta Blaze.
Charlotte Hounds - Jim Stagnitta becomes the second head coach in franchise history, replacing Mike Cerino who would transition into a front office role. Cerino lead the team to a 19-37 record in its first four seasons.
The 2016 All Star Game took place in Orange County, California at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Stadium on July 9. In the first professional lacrosse game in Southern California since the Los Angeles Riptide left, Team Riptide narrowly defeated Team Rolling Thunder, 21–20 in front of 4,217 fans. Goaltender for the Ohio Machine and Team Riptide, Scotty Rodgers, went onto win the MVP award.
Playoffs
On March 9, the league announced the two semifinals games would be held at separate neutral locations for the first time ever. One (Denver vs. New York) was held in Fairfield, Connecticut, and the other (Charlotte vs. Ohio) was held in Blaine, Minnesota. For the third straight year, the championship game was held at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Atlanta.
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