The 2017 Major League Lacrosse season was the 17th season of

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 ...

. 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 Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

at The Ford Center at The Star. In a rematch of the 2016 championship game, the Ohio Machine defeated the

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws are a professional field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, that competes in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Founded as the Chrome Lacrosse Club, they began play as one of the league's six inaugural teams in the ...

17–12, capturing their first Steinfeld Cup in franchise history. The 2017 season was the last one headed by commissioner David Gross. It was announced on December 23, 2016 that the league's commissioner since 2004 would be stepping down after the season.

Milestones and events

*November 15, 2016 - The 2017 MLL schedule is announced. Notable games include a 2016 Steinfeld Cup rematch on July 15 in Denver between the Outlaws and the Machine. The Blaze will be the Outlaws' opponent in their annual Independence Day game for the first time on Tuesday, July 4. *November 16 - The village of

Obetz Obetz is a city located in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 5,489. History The community (originally Obetz Junction, in honor of settler Charles Obetz) was formed in 1838 as a stagecoac ...

announces the construction of a new 6,500-seat multi-purpose stadium,

Fortress Obetz Fortress Obetz is a multi-purpose sports and entertainment complex in Obetz, Ohio. Its bleacher system holds 6,500 people. Including standing room for events such as concerts, Fortress Obetz can hold nearly 20,000 people. It opened in 2017 on t ...

at the site of the closed Columbus Motor Speedway. The stadium will be finished in time for the Machine's first home game on May 6. It will be the third venue in franchise history. *December 7 - The league announces that the 2017 MLL All Star Game will be played at the 11,500-seat Bonney Field in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. It is the second straight year that the event will be held in California. *December 23 - Commissioner David Gross announces he will be stepping down after the 2017 season. Gross became the league's first commissioner in 2004. *January 19, 2017 - The Rattlers announce that they will return to Rochester Rhinos Stadium after one season at Wegman's Stadium at the

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, which only sat 2,000. The Rattlers played at Rhinos Stadium between 2006 and 2015. *February 15 - The league announces that the 2017 MLL Championship Game will be held at The Ford Center at The Star, in

. It will be the first championship game held in the state of Texas and only second championship game held west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, as well as only the second Major League Lacrosse event held in Texas. *April 19 - John Grant Jr. announces his retirement after 13 seasons in the league. He is the league's all-time leader in goals scored in a career and a game (10). The same day, it was announced he would be joining his former team the Denver Outlaws as an assistant. *April 25 - Attackman Brendan Mundorf announces his retirement from the league after ten seasons with the Outlaws and Bayhawks. He retires with 291 career goals, second-most in MLL history. *April 28 - The league announces a partnership with

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, who will stream 15 regular season games in the 2017 season, and the two semifinal games. Twitter also partnered up with the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

in 2017. *May 28 - The collegiate draft took place in Foxborough, Massachuttes, on NCAA Championship Weekend. 2016 Tewaaraton Award winner Dylan Molloy, an attackman from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, was selected by the Florida Launch with the first overall pick. Florida drafted Nick Mariano and Sergio Salcido, both from Syracuse, with its two other first round picks. *June 27 - The 3–6 Cannons traded away team captain Will Manny and Joe LoCascio to the New York Lizards for Dave Lawson and Chris LaPierre. On July 14, the Cannons announced that neither Lawson nor LaPierre would suit up for the team that season. Dave Lawson informed team officials that he would be retiring from the league while Chris LaPierre decided not to report to the team. *July 8 - The All Star Game took place at Papa Murphy's Park in Sacramento. Myles Jones won the game for Team Stripes in overtime, 21-20 over Team Stars, in front of 7,761 fans.

Coaching changes

* Florida Launch - Tom Mariano, former assistant for the Bayhawks, was announced as the second coach in franchise history on December 7. This is after Stan Ross resigned on November 17 following a 13–29 combined record in his first three seasons.

Teams

Standings

Attendance

League attendance reached a record low in 2017, driven by one-third and one-fourth drops for Boston and Chesapeake, respectively. However, for the first time since the 2013 season, only one team, Charlotte, finished with an average of under 2,000 a game.

Playoffs

On February 15, the league announced the Steinfeld Cup would be held at The Ford Center at The Star in

. After being held at neutral locations in 2016, the two semifinal games were held at the home stadiums of the two top-seeded teams, Denver and Ohio. Both teams cruised to home playoff wins over Rochester and Florida, respectively. On August 19, the Outlaws and Machine played a rematch of the 2016 championship. This time, however, the Machine were victorious. Ohio came back from a four-goal third quarter deficit to win 17-12. Ohio scored the last seven goals of the game;

Marcus Holman Marcus Holman (born May 2, 1991) is an American professional lacrosse player for Boston Cannons of the Premier Lacrosse League and an assistant coach for the Utah Utes men's lacrosse team. Holman was an attackman for the University of North ...

had three straight within four minutes in the fourth quarter and 6 points overall to earn the MVP award. 7,543 fans attended the game.

Season Awards

All-MLL Team

Source:

References

External links

* {{MLL season by team, 2017 17

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...