Founded | 2014 |
---|---|
Folded | 2019 |
League | MLL |
Based in | Boca Raton, Florida |
Stadium | FAU Stadium |
Colors | Blue, gold, white |
Owner | Jim Davis |
Head coach | Tom Mariano |
General manager | Tom Mariano |
The Florida Launch were a professional men's field lacrosse team based in Boca Raton, Florida. They joined Major League Lacrosse (MLL) as an expansion team for the 2014 season until 2019. The team played its home games at Florida Atlantic University Stadium. [1] The team was owned by Jim Davis, chairman of New Balance, an early investor in the MLL. [2]
In November 2013, MLL granted an expansion franchise to Palm Beach County, Florida for the 2014 MLL Season. The formation of the Launch coincides with the dissolution of the Hamilton Nationals, and former National players have become members of the inaugural Launch squad. [3] Former Denver Outlaws assistant Stan Ross was named as the team's first coach.
Ross faced his former team in the Launch's inaugural game on Saturday, April 26, 2014 in their home opener. [4] The Launch lost their first game to the Outlaws 14-10. Josh Amidon scored the first goal in franchise history. [5] The team's first victory came in their second game, an 11-8 win over the Charlotte Hounds. [6]
After coaching the Launch to a combined 13-29 record over their first three seasons, Ross resigned on November 17, 2016. [7] Tom Mariano, former assistant coach for the Chesapeake Bayhawks, was announced his replacement on December 7. [8]
When the 2017 schedule was announced on November 15, 2016, the Launch also announced that their first three homes games would be played at various cities in Florida as a part of their 2017 Florida Tour to grow the game of lacrosse throughout the state. [9] Due to field renovations at FAU Stadium finishing sooner than expected, the Launch scheduled the home opener on May 13, 2017 after playing two games at Spec Martin Stadium in DeLand, Fla. [10]
The Launch started the 2017 season with an unimpressive 2-3 record. On May 28, with the first pick in the year's collegiate draft, the Launch selected Dylan Molloy, attack from Brown University. [11] Molloy, originally from Long Island, boasted record break numbers at Brown University. Following the pick, the Launch rattled off three straight victories, including two over the New York Lizards to match their franchise high for victories in a season with five (only eight games into the season). The Launch would then go on to lose three of their next four, including an embarrassing 17-4 defeat to the Atlanta Blaze.
On July 29, the Launch entered their last game of the season controlling their own postseason fate. At 7-6, they entered Harvard Stadium to play the last-place Boston Cannons, who defeated them in the first week of the season in overtime. The Launch controlled the game for over 37 minutes, scoring the first six goals of the game and led 16-6 more than midway into the third quarter. The tides turned quickly however, and the Cannons rattled off 11 straight goals to take a 17-16 lead with 8:43 remaining. The Launch were able to recover though. Kieran McArdle tied the game a minute and a half later, and rookie Nick Mariano won the game with a goal with less than five minutes to go. [12] The Launch would finally clinch their first postseason berth in team history with an 18-17 win over the feisty Cannons and head into the final week of the season with a bye. [13]
On August 12, the Launch played the Ohio Machine at Fortress Obetz in the team's first ever playoff appearance. Florida kept it close for much of the game, but the eventual-champion Machine were able to separate themselves and defeat the Launch, 18-13. [14]
The next season, the Launch were not able to replicate their success. Despite getting off to a 2-1 start including a dominating 16-7 win over the eventual champion Denver Outlaws, the team finished the season with a disappointing 5-9 record. Dylan Molloy led the team in goals with 41. [15]
On April 1, 2019, the Florida Launch released a statement indicating that the team was folding as a result of a contraction of Major League Lacrosse from nine teams to six. [16]
Florida Launch | |||||
Year | W | L | % | Regular season finish | Playoffs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | 5 | 9 | .357 | 7th in league | Didn't Qualify |
2015 | 5 | 9 | .357 | 7th in league | Didn't Qualify |
2016 | 3 | 11 | .214 | 9th in league | Didn't Qualify |
2017 | 8 | 6 | .571 | 3rd in league | Lost semifinal vs. Ohio Machine, 18-13 |
2018 | 5 | 9 | .357 | 8th in league | Didn't qualify |
Totals | 26 | 44 | .371 | Total Playoff Record 0-1 (.000) |
2018 Florida Launch | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number | Player's Name | Nationality | Position | Height | Weight | College |
0 | Patrick Resch | M | 6 ft 3 in | 200 lb | Duke | |
1 | PT Ricci | D | 5 ft 10 in | 195 lb | Loyola | |
2 | Ryan Drenner | M | 6 ft 0 in | 185 lb | Towson | |
4 | Dylan Molloy | A | 6 ft 0 in | 220 lb | Brown | |
5 | Tyler Warner | SSDM | 6 ft 0 in | 200 lb | Yale | |
6 | Kieran McArdle | A | 6 ft 1 in | 175 lb | St. John's | |
7 | Jules Heningburg | A | 6 ft 2 in | 185 lb | Rutgers | |
8 | Michael Rexrode | D | 6 ft 0 in | 180 lb | Rutgers | |
9 | Tim Barber | M | 5 ft 10 in | 192 lb | Syracuse | |
12 | Jack Concannon | G | 6 ft 2 in | 200 lb | Hofstra | |
14 | Austin Kaut | G | 6 ft 1 in | 200 lb | Penn State | |
20 | Connor Buczek | M | 6 ft 2 in | 190 lb | Cornell | |
21 | Michael Tagliaferri | M | 6 ft 0 in | 205 lb | North Carolina | |
23 | Nick Mariano | M | 6 ft 0 in | 181 lb | Syracuse | |
25 | Alec Tulett | D | 6 ft 3 in | 185 lb | Brown | |
30 | Michael Noone | D | 6 ft 3 in | 205 lb | Lehigh | |
37 | Ben Williams | FO | 5 ft 11 in | 192 lb | Syracuse | |
43 | Mark Mcneill | M | 6 ft 4 in | 215 lb | North Carolina | |
44 | Steven Brooks | M | 6 ft 1 in | 190 lb | Syracuse | |
51 | Tucker Durkin | D | 6 ft 2 in | 210 lb | Johns Hopkins | |
55 | Bryan Cole | M | 6 ft 3 in | 190 lb | Maryland | |
77 | Mike Unterstein | M | 5 ft 11 in | 195 lb | Hofstra | |
88 | Jarrod Neumann | D | 6 ft 4 in | 205 lb | Providence | |
91 | Luke Duprey | D | 6 ft 5 in | 210 lb | Duke | |
# | Name | Term | Regular Season | Playoffs | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | W% | GC | W | L | W% | |||
1 | Stan Ross | 2014-2016 | 42 | 13 | 29 | .310 | - | - | - | - |
2 | Tom Mariano | 2017-2018 | 28 | 13 | 15 | .464 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was 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 were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Baltimore Bayhawks from 2001–2006 and as the Washington Bayhawks from 2007–2009.
The New York Lizards, originally the Long Island Lizards, were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team based in Hempstead, New York, located on Long Island. They are original members of the MLL. They lost the league's inaugural game on June 7, 2001 to the Baltimore Bayhawks, 16–13.
The Boston Cannons, formerly known as Cannons Lacrosse Club, is a professional men's field lacrosse team in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Formerly based in Boston, Massachusetts, they played in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) from their inaugural 2001 season to 2020. The team's home field was Veterans Memorial Stadium in nearby Quincy. In the MLL, the team won two Steinfeld Cup championship games in 2011 and 2020, the latter being the MLL's final championship. The Cannons joined the PLL in 2020 following the MLL–PLL merger and were rebranded as the Cannons Lacrosse Club before later being rebranded as Boston Cannons once again when the PLL assigned home cities after the 2023 season.
Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game is the all-star game of the MLL.
The Denver Outlaws were 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.
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 MLL team. 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.
Peter Thomas Ricci is an American professional lacrosse player who last played for the Philadelphia Barrage of Major League Lacrosse. Ricci played four years for Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania in 2005, after starring in football and lacrosse and running track. He finished his senior season at Loyola with a team leading 91 ground balls, and was the eleventh draft pick in the 2009 MLL Draft to the Chesapeake Bayhawks. After two seasons with the Bayhawks he was traded to the Boston Cannons in May 2011. He won consecutive championships in 2010 and 2011 with the Chesapeake Bayhawks and Boston Cannons respectively, attributing to the Cannons first Steinfeld Trophy in MLL history. He was also selected as an all-star in 2011 season. He was traded by the Boston Cannons to the Florida Launch in November 2013 along with Lee Coppersmith and the 12th overall draft prick in the 2014 draft for Brodie Merrill, Martin Cahill and the 37th overall draft pick in the 2014 draft. He signed a 2-year deal with the Florida Launch in January 2017. In February 2020 he was traded to the Philadelphia Barrage along with three draft picks in the 2020 MLL draft for Bryan Cole and Randy Staats.
The Ohio Machine was a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Obetz, Ohio. They first played in the 2012 MLL season and continued through the 2018 season.
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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.
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