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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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