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Major League Lacrosse (MLL) is a men's field lacrosse league consisting of six active teams in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001, making MLL the oldest professional field lacrosse league in North America. Teams have played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This is followed by a four-team playoff for the championship trophy, the Steinfeld Trophy, named after founder Jake Steinfeld. League attendance peaked at 6,417 in 2011 and the 2019 average was 4,587.
The Chesapeake Bayhawks are a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They have played in the greater Baltimore metro area since the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Baltimore Bayhawks from 2001–2006 and as the Washington Bayhawks from 2007–2009.
The Dallas Rattlers were a professional men's field lacrosse team as a member of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) based in Frisco, Texas starting in 2018. The franchise was a charter member of the MLL, operating as the Rochester Rattlers in Rochester, New York, from 2001 to 2008 and 2011 to 2017.
The Boston Cannons are a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They have played in the MLL since the inaugural 2001 season and have won two Steinfeld Cup championship games. The team's home field is Veterans Memorial Stadium in nearby Quincy.
The Philadelphia Barrage are a field lacrosse team that are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and member of Major League Lacrosse. They were the Bridgeport Barrage from 2001 to 2003 at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team then relocated to Philadelphia from the 2004 season to the 2007 season when they became a traveling team for 2008. They ceased operations before the 2009 season due to the economic situation in the United States. The Philadelphia Barrage were resurrected for the 2020 season.
The Denver Outlaws are a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team.
Dave Huntley was a Canadian lacrosse player and head coach and general manager with the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League. Huntley played collegiate lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University where he helped his team win two national championships. In 1979, Huntley was honored with the McLaughlin Award, which is presented annually to the nation's most outstanding college lacrosse midfielder. His son, Kevin Huntley, was also an All-American at Johns Hopkins. Huntley was also the first ever head coach for the Toronto Nationals. David Huntley died December 18, 2017 after suffering a heart attack while attending a box lacrosse game in Delray Beach, Florida.
The Hamilton Nationals were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They began play in the 2009 season in Toronto, Ontario as the Toronto Nationals, becoming the first-ever Canadian team in MLL history. In 2009, they played their home games at BMO Field, which is also home to Major League Soccer's Toronto FC but moved to the smaller Lamport Stadium for the 2010 season. On February 3, 2011, the Nationals announced that they were relocating to Hamilton, Ontario, and would play their home games at Ron Joyce Stadium on the campus of McMaster University. On 21 November 2013, MLL announced that the team would not participate in the 2014 season, with most of the players being transferred to the expansion Florida Launch.
The 2009 Toronto Nationals season was the first for the franchise. Their first game in the MLL was on May 15, 2009 against Washington Bayhawks, which they won 17–16. They also won their first home game over the Chicago Machine 15–11. The Nationals qualified for the playoffs as the second seed with a 7–5 record and the best offense in MLL with 184 goals for. The Nationals played their first playoff game against the Long Island Lizards at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Toronto won their semi-final matchup 14–13 thanks to a strong game by Merrick Thomson scoring 4 goals. Toronto went on to face the Denver Outlaws in the Steinfeld Cup Final. The Nationals were tied with the Outlaws 9–9 with over a minute to go in the game. Nationals head coach Dave Huntley called a time-out to draw out a strategy. With 45 seconds left to go, Joe Walters passed to Shawn Williams and Williams scored the winning goal to give the Toronto Nationals their first championship victory 10–9 over the Denver Outlaws. Merrick Thomson was named Playoff MVP and Brodie Merrill won the Major League Lacrosse Defensive player of the Year Award.
Steven Brooks is a professional lacrosse player that retired from the Atlas LC (PLL) of Premier Lacrosse League in 2019. Brooks was the 6th overall draft pick in the 2008 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft by the Chicago Machine. He played high school lacrosse for Libertyville High School in Libertyville, Illinois. He also attended a postgraduate year at Bridgton Academy. Brooks played college lacrosse at Syracuse University. In January 2020, Brooks was named assistant coach of the Atlas LC (PLL) in the professional lacrosse league PLL. He is the first ever PLL player turned coach in the league's history.
The Atlanta Blaze were a professional men's field lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). The Blaze became the ninth team in MLL as an expansion team for the 2016 season and played its home games at Atlanta Silverbacks Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 2016 Major League Lacrosse season was the 16th season of Major League Lacrosse. The season featured 9 teams after the addition of the Atlanta Blaze via expansion. It was the first season since 2008 that the league fielded more than eight teams. The defending champion New York Lizards are 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. 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 2017 Major League Lacrosse season was the 17th season of Major League Lacrosse. Featuring the same nine teams as 2016, the season began on April 22. All four games played on opening weekend were won by the road team and decided by one goal, two in overtime. The season culminated in the championship game on August 19 in Frisco, Texas at The Ford Center at The Star. In a rematch of the 2016 championship game, the Ohio Machine defeated the Denver Outlaws 17–12, capturing their first Steinfeld Cup in franchise history.
The 2017 Atlanta Blaze season was the second season for the Atlanta Blaze of Major League Lacrosse and David Huntley's first full season as head coach after taking over for John Tucker ten games into 2016. The Blaze posted two more wins in 2017, finishing their second season at 6-8 and eighth place in the standings.
The 2018 Major League Lacrosse season is the 18th season of Major League Lacrosse. The season began on Saturday, April 21 with three games. For the third straight year, the league consists of nine teams playing 14 games each. However, the league announced on November 16, 2017 that the Rochester Rattlers, one of the league's four remaining charter franchises, would relocate to Frisco, Texas and become the Dallas Rattlers. The reigning champions for the first time are the Ohio Machine, who would take a hard fall and finish 3-11 in 2018. The season culminated on Saturday, August 18 with the Denver Outlaws hoisting their third Steinfeld Trophy in Charleston, South Carolina at MUSC Health Stadium after defeating the Rattlers, 16-12.
The 2018 New York Lizards season was the eighteenth season for the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse. The Lizards came off a down season in 2017, where they finished 7-7 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. In 2018, the Lizards won their last three games of the regular season, clinching the fourth seed in the postseason. However, their playoff run was short-lived as they lost to the Dallas Rattlers in the semifinal round, 15-12.
The 2019 Major League Lacrosse season was the 19th season of Major League Lacrosse. The regular season began on Friday, May 31 and ended on Sunday, September 22. It was the first time the league would ever begin its season after Memorial Day, allowing all players selected in the collegiate draft to play a full season. 2019 also marks the first time each team would play 16 games. The league has played a 14-game schedule since 2012. Additionally, the league returned to a Championship Weekend format instead of a two-week postseason for the first time since 2013. Championship Weekend was hosted in Denver with two semifinal games on Friday, October 4 and the 19th Steinfeld Cup was hosted at Dick's Sporting Goods Park October 6 on ESPN2.
The 2019 Atlanta Blaze season will be the fourth season for the Atlanta Blaze of Major League Lacrosse. Liam Banks enters his second season as head coach, after leading the Blaze to their best record in franchise history (7–7) in 2018. It will be the team's first year at Grady Stadium in downtown Atlanta, after spending its first three years at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in Kennesaw.
The 2019 Chesapeake Bayhawks season is the nineteenth season for the Bayhawks franchise of Major League Lacrosse, and tenth season using the 'Chesapeake' Bayhawks moniker. It is Dave Cottle's second season of his second tenure as head coach of the team. In 2018, Cottle led the Bayhawks to their first playoff appearance in five years.
The 2020 Major League Lacrosse season is the 20th season of Major League Lacrosse. Each of the six teams were slated to play a ten-game regular season starting on May 30, until the COVID-19 pandemic suspended the season. On July 2, the league announced teams would play a five-game regular season over the course of a quarantined week in Annapolis, Maryland at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, the home of the Chesapeake Bayhawks. The regular season is scheduled to begin play on Saturday, July 18 with a four-team postseason the next weekend on July 25–26.
References
- ↑ Blaze sign Tommy Palasek in Player Movement
- ↑ Blaze acquire Matt Gibson
- ↑ Blaze acquire Glazener
- ↑ Blaze coach Dave Huntley passes away
- ↑ Jim Pfeifer named President of Atlanta Blaze
- ↑ Liam Banks named head coach of Blaze
- ↑ "MLL approves sale of Atlanta Blaze to Andre Gudger". Archived from the original on 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-04-21.
- ↑ Atlanta Blaze fortifies its already potent roster heading into the season's most important month
- ↑ MLL announces All Star Games for 2019-21