The Portland LumberJax (sometimes referred to as the Jax) were a professional

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

team based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, which played in 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. ...

(NLL) starting in the 2006 season and ending operations after the 2009 season. Angela Batinovich, the owner of the team, entered the league as the youngest owner of a professional sports franchise at the age of 24. Announced by the NLL on May 11, 2005, the LumberJax played their home games at the

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Designs vary tremendously and roses may be displayed alongside other plants or grouped ...

. It was announced on May 4, 2009 that the team would be leaving Portland after four seasons of play and on July 7, 2009 the NLL held a dispersal draft for the Lumberjax players.

Franchise history

The expansion LumberJax got off to a slow start in their first year, but later turned their season around and made it to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. The LumberJax finished first in their division, becoming the only expansion team to win their division in the 20-year history of the NLL. The LumberJax season ended with a loss in the opening round of the playoffs to the

Arizona Sting The Arizona Sting was a professional American box lacrosse team and a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks, and in 2003 moved to ...

. The LumberJax were less successful in their sophomore season, finishing last in the West Division with a 4-12 record. In their

third year Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

, the LumberJax finished with a sub-500 record for the second straight year (6-10), but were able to enter the playoffs as the fourth-seed in the West. The LumberJax won their first playoff game in franchise history on May 4, 2008, an 18-16 victory over the San Jose Stealth at the HP Pavilion in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

Dan Dawson Dan Dawson (born December 11, 1981) is a Canadian former professional box lacrosse player formally playing for the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League, Brampton Excelsiors (MSL) of Major Series Lacrosse, and is currently a free agent ...

scored 7 goals and added 5 assists for a total of 12 points. They then defeated the Calgary Roughnecks in the Western Division Final 16-12, to earn their first ever trip to the Champion's Cup, which took place Saturday, May 17, 2008 at the HSBC Arena in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

against the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse L ...

at 7:30 PM Eastern. The LumberJax lost 14-13. On May 4, 2009 the team announced it would be leaving Portland after four seasons of play due to financial concerns. Future options included moving the franchise to another city or selling it to new owners; however on July 7, 2009, a dispersal draft was held for Portland's players, essentially shutting down the franchise.

Awards and honors

All-time record

Playoff results

References

{{Defunct NLL Defunct National Lacrosse League teams Lacrosse clubs established in 2005 Lacrosse clubs disestablished in 2009 Defunct sports clubs and teams in Oregon LumberJax Lacrosse teams in Oregon 2005 establishments in Oregon 2009 disestablishments in Oregon

Franchise history

Awards and honors

All-time record

Playoff results

See also

References