The 2009

Major League Lacrosse 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 ...

season was the ninth season of the league. The season began on May 15, 2009 and concluded with the championship game on August 23, 2009.

Milestones & events

Rule changes

Major League Lacrosse announced some major rule changes in the off-season. The league will introduce a fourth long–stickman to play. For the first eight seasons the league operated, each team could only field three long–stick defenders on the field at a time. This rule was unique from the traditional men's

field lacrosse Field lacrosse is a full contact outdoor men's sport played with ten players on each team. The sport originated among Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were initially codified by Canadian William George Beers in 1867. ...

rules played in high schools and colleges. The league will maintain the two–point goal and shot clock that differentiates Major League Lacrosse rules from high school and college lacrosse. In addition, the league announced that each team would be permitted to have one additional roster position to a total of nineteen players.

Team movement

*The

Washington Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

will move from the Washington D.C. area to

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. The Bayhawks have signed a three–year contract with the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

to play their home games at the

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen college football and lacrosse team ...

. This move will be the Bayhawks sixth different home field in their nine years of existence. *The

Long Island Lizards 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 ...

will move their home games back to James M. Shuart Stadium, where they played in 2001 and 2002. *The MLL announced on February 19 that the

Los Angeles Riptide The Los Angeles Riptide were a lacrosse team based in Carson, California. From 2006 to 2008, they played in Major League Lacrosse and ceased operations before the 2009 season. Franchise history In March 2005, MLL announced that Los Angeles would ...

Philadelphia Barrage The Philadelphia Barrage were 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. ...

, New Jersey Pride,

Rochester Rattlers Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

and San Francisco Dragons folded and a new team will play in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. The league will consist of 6 teams. The Eastern and Western Conferences have been eliminate

* The

' roster and staff will be transferred to the new Toronto Nationals (lacrosse), Toronto Nationals team; however, the name, colors, and history are staying behind in Rochester to be potentially used by a future MLL team. * For their home games, The Toronto Nationals (lacrosse), Toronto Nationals played their inaugural season at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is home to Toronto FC of Major League Soccer and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. Constructed on the site of the former Exhibit ...

Pre-season

* Casey, Ryan, and Mikey Powell, three of the best and most popular players in the league, all sat out for the 2009 season. The three brothers did not report to their respective teams as of the April 1 contract deadline - which means they are ineligible to play for anyone for the remainder of 2009. This was not the first time the Powell brothers sat out a season. The 2009 season was Mikey's third sitting out, while it is Casey's second, and Ryan's first.

Standings

''W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT = Winning Percentage, GB = Games Back of first place, GF = Goals For, 2ptGF = 2 point Goals For, GA = Goals Against, 2ptGA = 2 point Goals Against'' Final ''Long Island finished ahead of Boston base on head-to-head record 3-0.''

All Star Game

The 2009 game took place July 16 at Denver's

INVESCO Field Empower Field at Mile High (previously known as Broncos Stadium at Mile High, Invesco Field at Mile High and Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and commonly known as Mile High, New Mile High or Mile High Stadium) is an American football stadium ...

. The Old School beat the Young Guns 22-21 in overtime. Brian Langtry (Denver) was named the MVP for the game.

Playoffs

The 2009 New Balance MLL Championship Weekend took place on Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23 at

. The two semifinal games were at 12 PM ET and 3 PM ET on Saturday. The Toronto Nationals and Denver Outlaws won their semi-final matchups and in the Championship game with 45 seconds left, Shawn Williams scored to give the Nationals a 10-9 lead and Toronto won the MLL championship.

Merrick Thomson Merrick Thomson (born September 9, 1983) is a former professional lacrosse player from Hamilton, Ontario. He played the attack position for the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse and for the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse Le ...