Table of Contents
635 Goals by a single player 40 Lacrosse stick length 9 MLL teams 230 World’s top players 7 Record setting two-point goals 24 Hall of Famer, John Grant Jr. 2015 Lizards take the championship 62.7 Highest save percentage 1 The price for slashing Index
635
Goals by a Single Player
4
Gary Gait had one of the most spectacular NLL careers of any
number (22) to the rafters, making him the second player in
player in league history. He has the second most career goals
NLL history to have his number retired, after Buffalo’s Darris
of any player with 635 and the highest goals per game aver-
Kilgour. They went to the playoffs all three seasons but never
age in league history with 3.207 goals per game. Gary is also
advanced to the championship. Gait announced his retire-
tied with his brother for the most goals in one single game,
ment following the 2005 season. He was then voted into the
10. He had his number retired by Colorado and he is a member
NLL Hall of Fame along with his brother, Paul. After retiring he
of the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame.
became Head coach of the Mammoth for 2006 & 2007, but
Gait played with the Colorado Mammoth for three seasons. In his first game of the 2006 season, Gary was honored by
he stepped down as head coach in August 2007 so he could pursue other interests.
the Mammoth. On December 30, 2005, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado, the Colorado Mammoth raised his jersey
5
FORTY INCHES
Stick length is governed by NCAA regulations, which require that men’s sticks (including the head) be 40 inches long for offensive players, 52 to 72 inches long for defensemen, and 40 to 72 inches long for goalies. Offensive players usually prefer their sticks to be the minimum length in order to give them the advantage of having a shorter stick to protect from defensive checks. Conversely, defensive players usually prefer their sticks to be the maximum length to permit them the greatest range in covering their offensive player. In 2016, a rules clarification was made by the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Rules Committee. Questions have arisen regarding the alteration of the shaft circumference. The circumference of the shaft cannot exceed 3 1/2”. To be clear, added tape to the shaft must not make the shaft exceed this circumference measurement. Modern handles, more commonly referred to as “shafts,” are made of hollow metal. They are usually octagonal, instead of round, in order to provide a better grip. Most are made of aluminum, titanium, scandium, or alloys, but some shafts are still made from other materials, including wood, plastic, or fiberglass. The open end of the hollow shaft must be covered with tape or a butt end, usually made of rubber. The head of the stick is usually attached to the shaft with a screw to keep it in place.
2016 MLL Teams MLL is comprised of nine teams across the US. The Boston Cannons, Chesapeake Bayhawks (formerly Baltimore and Washington), New York Lizards (formally Long Island) and Rochester Rattlers are original teams starting in 2001. The Denver Outlaws began play in 2006 as part of the League’s western expansion. The Charlotte Hounds and Ohio Machine began play in 2012 as a part of the League’s expansion initiative to have 16 teams in the next decade. Continuing the expansion, the Florida Launch began play in 2014. The latest expansion team is the Atlanta Blaze, who will begin play in 2016. Current teams include the Atlanta Blaze, Boston Cannons, Florida Launch, Charlotte Hounds, New York Lizards, Chesapeake Bayhawks, Ohio Machine, Denver Outlaws, Rochester Rattlers
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230
The World’s Top Players Major League Lacrosse boasts the best 230 lacrosse players in the world. They hail from some of the top academic institutions, including Princeton, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Duke, and Virginia. MLL icons include Casey Powell, Jesse Hubbard, John Grant Jr., Mark Millon, Kyle Harrison and Brodie Merrill. The League also features current stars in lacrosse such as Paul Rabil, Ned Crotty, Brendan Mundorf, Rob Pannell, Lyle Thompson, Joey Sankey, Steele Stanwick, Jeremy Sieverts and Matt Danowski.
12
seven 2s Joe Walters setting records with 2 point goals. Walters went wild on Saturday night, exploding for fourteen points to propel Chesapeake to a critical 18-11 victory over the Florida Launch at Florida Atlantic Stadium. Walters was simply spectacular as the catalyst of the offense, scoring seven 2-point goals and dishing off four assists. It took Joe Walters a couple games to re-acclimate to the outdoor game after playing professional indoor lacrosse deep into May. The 10-year Major League Lacrosse veteran has found his comfort level and that’s good news for the Chesapeake Bayhawks. “Joe is an outstanding offensive lacrosse player who is very unselfish and does a great job passing the ball,” Chesapeake Head Coach Dave Cottle said. “I think the ball movement tonight was outstanding. Our players are learning how to play with Joe Walters. They know if they get open, Joe is going to find them.” With attackman Brendan Mundorf sitting out due to an injury, Walters took over as the offensive quarterback and did a superb job of initiating as Chesapeake reached a season-high for goals. The crafty left-hander scored on cannon crank shots and used his vision to consistently find open teammates for goals.
“I think our offense finally got it going. We just started to bury the ball,” Walters said. “We’ve been getting tons of shot and not finishing them. It was nice to finally see the ball go into the net tonight.”
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Hall of Famer:
John Grant Jr A current team member of Team Canada, John Grant, Jr. (#24), is
season. In 2007, Grant broke the league’s single-season points
considered one of the most decorated and accomplished lacrosse
record with 71 points, was named Offensive Player of the Year
players in the world. Grant began his lacrosse career playing box
for the second time, and was awarded the Major League Lacrosse
lacrosse in Canada where his father was a four-time member of
MVP Award.
Canadian National team. Grant was drafted by the Buffalo Bandits in 1995, but was never signed, opting instead to attend college at SUNY Morrisville.
In 2008, Grant led the league in scoring and was named the 2008 Bud Light Major League Lacrosse Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row. Grant and the Rattlers went on to
He re-entered the draft four years later, was picked up by the
win the MLL Championship in 2008 with a 16-6 defeat of Denver.
Rochester Knighthawks in 1999, and was named NLL Rookie of the
Internationally, Grant has competed in World Games in 1998
Year for the 2000 season. Grant played for the Rochester Rattlers
Baltimore and has played for Canada in USA vs. Canada World Cup
in their inaugural season in 2001, and finished second in the
Challenge in 1999.
league. He was also named an MLL All-Star and earned league Offensive Player of the Year honors. After not playing in the league from 2002 through 2004, he returned to the Rattlers for the 2005
62.7%
Brian Dogherty with the highest save percentage in the MLL! Brian Dougherty’s name is found on nearly all of the MLL All-Time Goalkeeper Records. He was first in save percentage (.627), tops the league in games played, minutes played, saves, goalkeeper wins, goalkeeper losses and two-point goals allowed while he is third in goals against average. The record holder is a three-time MLL Champion and a three-time Goalie of the Year. After spending the league’s first two seasons with Rochester, Dougherty spent the next two with Long Island and won his first Championship and Goalie of the Year award. From 2005-2008 Dougherty played with Philadelphia and brought the City of Brotherly Love two Championships and himself two more Goalie of the Year awards. Dougherty spent his last season before retirement with the New York Lizards.
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New York Lizards Take It All! The 2015 MLL Championship exceeded expecta-
Greg Gurenlian kickstarted the LIzards, win-
tions as the crowd of 8,764 at Fifth Bank Stadium
ning the opening faceoff and going straight to
saw the New York Lizards bring home their first title
goal. Mark Matthews responded with two goals
since 2003. Top seeded New York Lizards (10-4)
for Rochester giving him a hat-trick on the night.
took on the Rochester Rattlers (8-6). The Lizards
Kyle Denhoff scored his second of the night and
had beaten the Rattlers twice in the regular season
extended the Rochester lead to 3. Matt Gibson ended
but both New York teams knew that they only game
the 3rd quarter with a goal for the Lizards making it
that mattered was this one.
a tie game at 11.
Rattlers struck first when Kyle Denoff found the
Jordan Wolf started off the fourth quarter with
back of the goal and was followed quickly by Jordan
his second goal of the night, giving Rochester the
Wolf for Rochester. The Lizards remained score-
lead. The Lizards responded with a goal from
less for the beginning of the first quarter until
Rob Pannell, giving him a hat-trick tonight. The
Ned Crotty scores with 8 minutes left in the first
Lizards and Rattlers are going back and forth
quarter. Rochester went on a run when Randy
with another goal by Rob Pannell. The Lizards
Staats, Mark Mattews and John Ranagan each put
took their first lead of the night, 11:08 left in the
one past Lizards goalie, Drew Adams, making it 6-2,
game with a goal by Mike Stone making it 13-12.
Rochester at the end of the first quarter.
Rochester goalie, John Galloway made a big save
Greg Gurenlian won the faceoff to start the second quarter and Matt Gibson scored for the Lizards off a rebound. Dave Lawson beat Adams for another Rochester goal making it 7-3, Rochester. The Lizards quickly closed the gap with 3 goals in a row by Tommy Palesek, JoJo Marasco and Rob Pannell with 2 making it a tie game at 7. Rochester ended
for Rochester
but the Lizards got it back when
Tommy Palesak and Paul Rabil, made it a 3 goal lead. The New York Lizards held the ball for the last minute of play and celebrated the last seconds of play with a final score of 15-12. Paul Rabil earned the “Coca-Cola Most Valuable Player� honor for his performance.
the Lizards scoring streak when Jack Near scored his first goal of the night making it 8-7, Rochester to end the half.
19
20
00:01:00 The Price for Slashing One of the most frequently called penalties in lacrosse is the 1-minute slash. At all levels of play, officials must judge whether a swing is vicious, reckless or both. The threshold for vicious and reckless swings is higher at the high school level compared to the youth level. A game between two high school rivals will have a higher limit for what constitutes slashing than a U11 game. A vicious swing is most clearly defined as one that would do serious damage if a player were not wearing equipment. A huge two-handed swing that crashes down on the top of a shoulder pad is a vicious swing because without equipment, a player would likely suffer an injury. A reckless swing is one that demonstrates a lack of control. The two most common examples are when a defender is beat and quickly swings his crosse behind him, and a riding attackman whips a one-handed check to a clearing midfielder who just broke past the midfield line. Those checks have a low chance of only hitting stick or glove hand, and if a player swings in desperation and hits the body, it’s likely that a flag will be thrown.
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Index
A
G
R
Atlanta Blaze 9 Attackman 14, 22
Gait, Gary 6 Goalie 8, 18, 20 Goals 5, 14 Grant Jr., John 15
Rabil, Paul 10, 20 Rochester Rattlers 10, 15
B
H
S
Boston Cannons 10 Brian Dougherty 18
Hall of Fame 6, 15 Hat-Trick 20
Save 18, 20 Shafts 8 Shot 14 Slash 22 Sticks 8
C
M
T
Championship 6, 15, 18, 20 Charlotte Hounds 10 Chesapeake Bayhawks 10, 14 Colorado Mammoth 6
MLL 8, 10, 12, 15, 20 MVP 15, 20
Two-handed 22 Two-Point Goal 14
D
N
W
Defender 22 Defensive 7 Denver Outlaws 10
NCAA 8 New York Lizards 10, 20 NLL 6, 15
Walters, Joe 14 Win 14, 18, 20
E
O
Equipment 22
Offensive 8 Ohio Machine 10 One-handed 22
F
P
Flag 22 Florida Launch 10, 14
Penalties 22 Playoffs 6