The 2018 Major League Lacrosse season is the 18th 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 ...

. The season began on Saturday, April 21 with three games. For the third straight year, the league consists of nine teams playing 14 games each. However, the league announced on November 16, 2017 that the

Rochester Rattlers Rochester may refer to: Places Settlements England *Rochester, Kent * Rochester, Northumberland United States * Rochester, Illinois * Rochester, Indiana * Rochester Township, Cedar County, Iowa ** Rochester, Iowa, an unincorporated co ...

, one of the league's four remaining charter franchises, would relocate to

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 ...

and become the Dallas Rattlers. The reigning champions for the first time are the Ohio Machine, who would take a hard fall and finish 3-11 in 2018. The season culminated on Saturday, August 18 with 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 ...

hoisting their third Steinfeld Trophy in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

MUSC Health Stadium MUSC Health Stadium was a soccer-specific stadium located in the Daniel Island area of Charleston, South Carolina that served as the home of the Charleston Battery of the USL Championship. Originally named "Blackbaud Stadium", the stadium was o ...

after defeating the Rattlers, 16-12.

Milestones and events

*November 28, 2017 - The league announces the 2018 schedule. The season will begin on Saturday, April 21 with three games. *December 18 - Atlanta Blaze head coach

Dave Huntley Dave Huntley (1956 – December 18, 2017) was a Canadian lacrosse player and head coach and general manager with the Philadelphia Wings of the National Lacrosse League. Huntley played collegiate lacrosse at Johns Hopkins University where h ...

died at the age of 60. *February 6, 2018 - Alexander P. "Sandy" Brown is named second commissioner in the history of Major League Lacrosse. Most recently Brown spent time as President/CEO of One World Sports. *April 18 - Commissioner Sandy Brown announces the league has approved the sale of the Atlanta Blaze to Andre Gudger, founder and CEO of technology investment company Eccalon. *April 26 - The league announces the 2018 Championship Game will be held in

on August 18 at

, home to the

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

. It is the first MLL game to be held in South Carolina. *April 29 - In the Machine's first game defending their championship,

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 ...

scores a league-record 11 goals in a 25-13 victory over the Lizards. *June 9 -

Paul Rabil Paul Rabil (born December 14, 1985) is an American Business executive, sports executive and retired professional lacrosse player. He is currently the president of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), which he co-founded with his brother, league CEO ...

becomes the league's all-time leading scorer with his 542nd point. *June 16 - Paul Rabil becomes the second player in league history to score 300 goals in a 20-16 New York win over Charlotte. *June 27 - Lax Sports Network and ESPN+ agree to a multi-year partnership, highlighted by an MLL Game of the Week and a new original weekly show ''Lacrosse America'' (premiering July 6). LSN, who has owned the league's broadcast rights, also announces it will become a free service effective immediately. *July 22 - Goalie Kaisuke Iwamoto becomes the first player born in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

to start in a Major League Lacrosse game. Iwamoto, who suited up for the Outlaws in a game against the Rattlers, had nine saves on 19 shots in over three quarters of action. *July 25 - The league announces the site of its next three All Star Games. The Bayhawks will host at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

will host in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, and

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

will host in 2021.

Team movement

On November 16, 2017, the league announced at The Ford Center at The Star in

that the Rochester Rattlers would be relocating to the

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

market to become the Dallas Rattlers.

Coaching changes

Atlanta Blaze The Atlanta Blaze were a professional men's field lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). The Blaze became the ninth team in MLL as an expansion team for the 2016 Major League Lacrosse season, 2016 season and played its home games at Atlanta ...

- After Dave Huntley's unexpected death, former MLL player Liam Banks was named the third head coach in Atlanta's young franchise history. *

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

- After the team and Brian Reese agreed to part ways after two seasons, general manager Dave Cottle resumed his former role as head coach. Cottle coached the Bayhawks from 2012 to 2015 and won two championships. * Dallas Rattlers - With the Rattlers' relocation to Dallas, Tim Soudan resigned as head coach of the team. Longtime assistant coach

Bill Warder Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

was named Soudan's replacement. Soudan had been the league's longest tenured head coach after 100 games with the Rattlers.

Partnership with Women's Professional Lacrosse League

In June, the MLL and upstart Women's Professional Lacrosse League, the second pro women's lacrosse league in the United States, will play three doubleheaders. On June 2, the Baltimore Brave (WPLL) took the field in the afternoon before the Bayhawks hosted the Ohio Machine. On June 28, the New England Command hosted the Philadelphia Fire at

Harvard Stadium Harvard Stadium is a U-shaped college football stadium in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The Stadium is one of only four athletic facilities that are considered National Historic Landmarks. The stadium is owned and operated ...

in Boston before the MLL All Star Game. On June 30, the New York Lizards will play a host a doubleheader with the New York Fight.

Teams

Standings

Attendance

For the seventh straight year, league attendance dropped. Only the Rattlers (first season after relocating from Rochester) and Machine posted better attendances in 2018 than the year prior. The Outlaws' Fourth of July game was the only contest all season that drew a five-digit attendance figure.

Collegiate Draft

The 2018 MLL Collegiate Draft was held on Wednesday, April 18 at the U.S. Lacrosse Headquarters in Sparks, Maryland. With the first overall pick, the Boston Cannons selected prolific faceoff specialist,

Trevor Baptiste Trevor Baptiste (born July 3, 1996) is an American professional lacrosse player who plays as a face-off specialist for the New York Atlas of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) and the San Diego Seals of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). He atte ...

, from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

All Star Game

On February 13, the league announced the 2018 All Star Game would be held in Boston at

on Thursday, June 28. The game featured the MLL All-Stars facing Team USA in preparation of the 2018 FIL World Lacrosse Championship from July 12-21 in

Netanya, Israel Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Setanyahu of Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stream and the Wingate Institute in ...

. On June 27, the league announced that the

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

family of networks would be airing the game. The next day in front of 6,589 fans, the MLL All Stars defeated Team USA for the first time thanks to seven unanswered goals resulting in a 15-14 overtime victory.

Playoffs

Four teams will make the Major League Lacrosse playoffs. Two semifinal games were played on August 11 at Frisco, Texas and Annapolis, Maryland. The winners, the Dallas Rattlers and

, advanced to the championship game on August 18 in

. The matchup resulted in the Outlaws claiming their third championship in five years after a 16-12 defeat of the Rattlers.Outlaws win third Steinfeld Cup
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References

External links

Official Site
{{2018 MLL season by team 18

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 ...