Major League Lacrosse Season preview

Much like the other major sports trying to force their way through the whole Covid thing, so too are the field lacrosse leagues.  To me the big difference is that they are both doing the whole “season” in a tournament style with a very shortened regular season and then single elimination playoffs.  Today we’re going to be looking at the Major Lacrosse League (MLL).  This is a league that’s almost folded a few times and has had to try to just stay afloat after the other field league ( Premier Lacrosse League, aka PLL.  Season preview for them next week) started operations last year and then signed a large portion of the MLL players to contracts.  While this sounds bad, I get it from the players perspective.  In the MLL the players make about $8,000 a season.  In the PLL they make $35,000 a season, plus health coverage and stock options. For a bunch of guys that do this for basically the love of the game, to me, it’s a no-brainer to go with the money.

All games will be played in an empty Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis MD.  They will have July 16 and 17 as practice days.  The season for the six teams competing for the 20th anniversary championship starts on July 18, and the championship game will be played on July 26.  They start off with 3 games on Saturday and then 2 games each day until the 25th where a playoff of  the top 4 teams takes place.  Winners of each playoff game will play for the Championship.  Full schedule below.

To try to prevents the spreads of the Covids on field, each helmet will have a clear plastic shield that is the full height of the helmet behind the cage to try to keep everyone safer.  Think a football visor that extends down to the bottom of the face mask.  Each team will have a 25 man roster with 5 spares.  Anyone that tests positive would be replaced by one of the spares.  All games will be on ESPN2 and/or ESPN+.  No word on if they’ll be allowed to trade jerseys after the game or not.

For anyone that follows\knows field lacrosse from the college or below, this league basically follows those rules.

Before we get to the team lists, a few notes:

  • LSM means long stick midfielder.  The stick is 6′ long and these guys play mostly defence
  • SSDM means short stick defensive midfielder.  A mainly defensive guy but plays with a normal or short stick length.

Boston Cannons

Frank Brown Midfield
Mark Cockerton Attack
Bryan Cole Midfield
Scott Corcoran LSM
Cal Dearth Midfield
Nate Farrell Faceoff
Charlie Ford Defense
Matt Gilray LSM
Zach Goodrich SSDM
Scott Hooper Defense
Kyle Jackson Midfield
Dom Madonna Goalie
Nick Marrocco Goalie
Justin Pugal Defense
Kevin Reisman Faceoff
Challen Rogers Midfield
Mike Skudin Defense
Ben Spencer Midfield
Randy Staats Attack
John Uppgren Attack
Bryce Wasserman Attack
Kyle Weber Midfield
John Yozzo-Scaperrotta SSDM
Jason Brewster Defense
Tim Edwards Midfield

Quick thoughts:
With lots of new faces, will they have enough time to become a team?
Will the very physical defence be able to wear down opponents or will they be warn down?

Chesapeake Bayhawks

Luke Anderson SSDM
Brendan Bomberry Midfield
Nick Chaykowsky Midfield
CJ Costabile Defense
Callum Crawford Midfield
Greg Danseglio Defense
Isaiah Davis-Allen Midfield
Holden Garlent Defense
Colin Heacock Attack
Warren Jeffrey Defense
Ryan Keenan Midfield
Andrew Kew Attack
Chase Levesque LSM
Sam Lucchesi Goalie
Grant Maloof Midfield
Nick Manis Midfield
Nick Mariano Midfield
Zack Melillo Faceoff
Jon Paige Faceoff
Brian Phipps Goalie
Shane Simpson Midfield
Nate Solomon Attack
Leo Stouros Defense
Lyle Thompson Attack
Will Weitzel LSM

Quick thoughts:
Can the defending champs repeat?
Does Callum Crawford have the legs to play so many games together?
How will team defend Lyle Thompson ( probably the best lacrosse guy in the league, if not all together, right now)?

Connecticut Hammerheads

Kris Alleyne Goalie
Ryan Beville Midfield
Kyle Buchanan Midfield
Brendan Collins Midfield
Matt Farrell Defense
Andrew Helmer LSM
Landon Kramer Defense
Michael Kraus Attack
Hayden La Vangie LSM
Dan Lomas Attack
Ben Martin Attack
Ryan McNamara Attack
Robert Mooney Defense
Adam Osika Midfield
Cody Radziewicz Midfield
Noah Rak Faceoff
Will Renz SSDM
Will Sands Attack
Gunnar Schimoler Defense
Justin Schwenk Faceoff
Sean Sconone Goalie
Trevor Smyth LSM
Bradley Voigt Attack
Greg Weyl Defense
Luke Wittenberg Midfield

Quick thoughts:
This team has had so many homes will they be able to find a new mojo for the season?  Seriously this team has 4 or 5 different former homes.
Can they hold off the other teams for their offence to start to click.

Denver Outlaws

Max Adler Faceoff
Pat Aslanian SSDM
Christopher Aslanian Attack
Brian Begley SSDM
Daniel Bucaro Attack
James Burr Attack
Chase Caruso LSM
Casey Dowd Faceoff
John Grant Attack
Charlie Hayes SSDM
Colton Jackson Midfield
Jack Jasinski Midfield
Dylan Jinks Attack
Christian Knight Goalie
Brian Kormondy Midfield
Ryan Lee Attack
Sean Mayle LSM
Garrett Michaeli Defense
Andrew Newbold Defense
Kyle Pless Defense
Michael Rexrode Defense
Mikie Schlosser Midfield
Will Snider Midfield
Taylor Stuart LSM
Nick Washuta Goalie

Quick thoughts:
How much does John Grant Jr ( Age 43) have left in the tank? Can he manage this many games this close together?
How will losing their best goalie and defender impact the defence?
Can the all-most rookie goalies handle the pressure?

New York Lizards

Mark Andrejack Faceoff
Nick Aponte Midfield
Andrew Bracy Faceoff
Colin Burke Midfield
Jack Carrigan Defense
Brian Corrigan Goalie
Decker Curran Midfield
Danny Dolan Goalie
Bobby Duvnjak Defense
Mark Ellis SSDM
Nicky Galasso Midfield
Austin Kaut Goalie
Brendan Kearns Attack
Mike Mayer Defense
Dylan Molloy Attack
Sean O’Brien Midfield
Thomas O’Connell SSDM
Connor O’Hara Attack
Andrew Pettit Attack
Ben Randall Defense
Justin Reh Midfield
Steven Romano SSDM
Alex Spring LSM
Peter Welch LSM
Tommy Wright LSM

Quick thoughts:
Is there a dumber team name than the Lizards for a northern team?

Philadelphia Barrage

Tim Barber Midfield
Eddie Bouhall Defense
Liam Byrnes Defense
Brett Craig LSM
Shane Doss Goalie
Mark Evanchick Defense
Kevin Fox Defense
Tyson Gibson Midfield
Shayne Jackson Attack
Anthony Joaquim Midfield
Ryan MacSpadyen Midfield
Christopher Madalon Goalie
Kyle Marr Attack
Mark Matthews Attack
Jon Mazza Midfield
Carlson Milikin SSDM
Colin Minicus Attack
Will Nowesnick Defense
Tommy Palasek Attack
PT Ricci Defense
Brendan Sunday Attack
Chad Toliver SSDM
Matthew Whitcher Midfield
James Wittmeyer Attack
Alex Woodall Faceoff

Quick thoughts:
Can they hold off enough teams to let their top rated offence get to work?
Will their rookies be able to handle the pressure?
Will their transition score the most goals in the season?

Full Schedule

Saturday, July 18
Philadelphia Barrage at Chesapeake Bayhawks – 1 PM ESPN+
New York Lizards at Boston Cannons – 4 PM ESPN+
Connecticut Hammerheads at Denver Outlaws – 7PM ESPN+

Sunday, July 19
Chesapeake Bayhawks at New York Lizards – 1 PM ESPN2
Denver Outlaws at Philadelphia Barrage – 4 PM ESPN2

Monday, July 20
Boston Cannons at Chesapeake Bayhawks- 4 PM ESPN+
Philadelphia Barrage at Connecticut Hammerheads – 7 PM ESPN+

Tuesday, July 21
Philadelphia Barrage at Boston Cannons – 4 PM ESPN+
Denver Outlaws at New York Lizards – 7 PM ESPN+

Wednesday, July 22
Connecticut Hammerheads at New York Lizards – 4 PM ESPN+
Chesapeake Bayhawks at Denver Outlaws – 7 PM ESPN+

Thursday, July 23
Boston Cannons at Connecticut Hammerheads – 4 PM ESPN+
New York Lizards at Philadelphia Barrage – 7 PM ESPN+

Friday, July 24
Connecticut Hammerheads at Chesapeake Bayhawks – 4 PM ESPN+
Denver Outlaws at Boston Cannons – 7 PM ESPN+

Saturday, July 25
Semifinals: Seed 4 at Seed 1 – 1 PM ESPN+
Semifinals: Seed 3 at Seed 2 – 4 PM ESPN+

Sunday, July 26
Championship – 24 PM ESPN2

I’m not aware of other places it’s being shown so not sure how to see games if you don’t have ESPN+ and doubt that there’s a reddit thread with streaming options.  Cause, like, who actually watches lacrosse other than me?

I’ll follow up with an end of season post in two weeks, if anyone’s interested.  Daily posts with game reports are too much for my lazy bottom.  And I’ll be back next week with a preview of the PLL season that starts July 25th.

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Recovering lurker; jack of all trades, master of none; Canukian; not as funny as he thinks he is. Funny, but not funny ha-ha
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litre_cola

The NLL here is a huge party at the arena on game days. Crankin bad 80s music and everyone getting wasted

Gratliff

Also, a twitter employee’s control panel got hacked and there’s about 50 billion bitcoin scams running currently
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Gratliff

900 new cases reported in Michigan today. The highest since late April, and about, uh, 700 higher than the average through the first half of June. cool cool cool.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Up in Colorado too; libtards are mandating government muzzles on our freedom mouths.

Horatio Cornblower

My high school, a prep school in Connecticut, did not have a lacrosse program. My last two years they put together an intramural program, (to gauge interest in a formal varsity program), which was basically a bunch of idiots running around the back fields hitting each other with sticks. I played both years and had a blast.

To this day I could not tell you one rule associated with lacrosse.

Gratliff

Haven’t met a single lax bro since I moved away from Maryland. An understated benefit of living in the midwest.

Horatio Cornblower

I’m not sure who ‘LEC’ is in Italian Serie A, but I haven’t seen someone take a pounding like this since Sasha Grey went mainstream.

Horatio Cornblower

Arsenal up 2-1 against Liverpool in a game no one can watch without some new weirdass NBC app is just perfect for 2020.
/also, if Arsenal form holds, the second half should be a dumpster fire outside an abortion clinic.

Buddy Cole's Halftime Show

Boston Cannons is actually a group of guys from Roxbury who think Nick Cannon said nothing wrong.

Buddy Cole's Halftime Show
Gratliff

Lots of people rushing to Nick Cannon’s defense. Might be a wacky day.

Buddy Cole's Halftime Show

I haven’t seen this many Jews v. Cannon since the Six Day War

SonOfSpam

Weird that Israel would hate a Pal o’ Stein.

Buddy Cole's Halftime Show

It’s an aversion to Hamas and all pork

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

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SonOfSpam

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SonOfSpam

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SonOfSpam

Where are all the West Coast teams? I ain’t gonna root for Denver.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Dude.

SonOfSpam

Vote Hickenlooper

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Mister GOP target guy? Sure.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

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Dunstan

I only need one more and I’ll have Octopussy

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

The snorkel is just out of frame……#pearldiverscanstayunder

SonOfSpam

Dammit. Good work.

King Hippo

So. Many. Connors.

But go old school and find some footage of Jim Brown laxing it up. Twas his true sportsball love.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Which one turns into a serial killer?

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

To me the only legitimate naming use of Connor is if everyone involved has one of the several Scottish accents and they all must be thick…. the accents….. the cousins can be thick because…

Senor Weaselo

If they’re Scottish and named Connor they have to swordfight each other to the beheading. That’s the rule.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

At the very least wearing kilts in the winter.

Wait, that’s worse!

Horatio Cornblower

“Twas his true sportsball love.”

Only because defenestrating women isn’t actually a sport.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Lizards…..

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Related team names:

h
ttps://64.media.tumblr.com/e5e1732e5e74267c2d6344517d08b8ad/becf8d1cb3e7120e-c0/s1280x1920/4c2dd883c6043d3911c85c4fcd56c7d6effb3a0e.jpg

blaxabbath

These list of names. I feel like every single one must be somehow related to Xavier, Hendrick, and Winston.

blaxabbath

No one is more excited to talk Lacrosse than this guy.
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Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Whatever you do in life, if you have your own candy or protein bar you are a success. Even if other things are shit. Hitler did not have his own candy bar.

*Unverified.

nomonkeyfun

How do they have any players left after all of the Corona cases on Long Island?

Obligatory,

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Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

Syracuse knows different.

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Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

JB HAS to be the best Lacrosse player ever.

Moose -The End Is Well Nigh

The practice field looks premo.

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Senor Weaselo

They’re going by the New York Lizards instead of the Long Island Lizards? Because lacrosse is the national sport of Long Island. When I went to Baltimore to look at Hopkins and Peabody, the only way to fly to BWI was through MacArthur in Islip, on the Island. Seemingly the entire rest of the plane was going to a lacrosse camp at Hopkins.

No, I did not get into Hopkins or Peabody, but one of the faculty at my Peabody audition said they liked my suit and I’d say it was the third-best audition I played, behind the two schools I actually got in.

Also that’s all I know about lacrosse, other than that I sucked at it when I took it as a gym elective in HS. And I twisted my ankle trying to make a jumping catch.

montythisseemsstrangetome

Is there a dumber team name than the Lizards?

Washington [Redacteds]

Sharkbait

Definitely follow up.

My brother-in-law played for the cannons for a couple seasons and still coaches, so I’m very interested in these leagues

ballsofsteelandfury

Fun non-stereotypical fact:

Almost every team has a Kyle and one doubles up with a Chad.

montythisseemsstrangetome

Long Stick Midfielder. That was me in college.
What? No, I didn’t play lacrosse, why?

ballsofsteelandfury

Beat me to it. Well crafted!