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 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

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 sport, full contact outdoor sport played with two opposing teams of 10 players each. The sport originated among indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans, and the modern rules of field lacrosse were i ...

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 will move from the Washington D.C. area to

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. 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. List of naval academies See also

* Military academy {{Authority control Naval academies, Naval lists ...

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 Navy Midshipmen football, college f ...

. 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, Philadelphia Barrage, New Jersey Pride, Rochester Rattlers and San Francisco Dragons folded and a new team will play in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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

* The Rochester Rattlers' 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. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Ar ...

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. 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 (1987–2014), Philadelphia ...