The Philadelphia Barrage were a professional field lacrosse team that are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and member of Major League Lacrosse. They were the Bridgeport Barrage from 2001 to 2003 at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team then relocated to Philadelphia from the 2004 season to the 2007 season when they became a traveling team for 2008. They ceased operations before the 2009 season due to the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. The Philadelphia Barrage were resurrected for the 2020 season.
Franchise history
The team played in Bridgeport, Connecticut from the 2001 to the 2003 season and relocated to the Philadelphia suburb of Villanova in 2004. From their initial move to Philadelphia, for the 2004 season, through the 2006 season, they played at Villanova Stadium, which is located on the campus of Villanova University. They had previously played at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport where they hosted the inaugural Major League Lacrosse All Star Game in 2001. The Barrage made the playoffs for the first time in 2004 and won the Major League Lacrosse Championship over the Boston Cannons. The Barrage, after winning their 1st Eastern Conference Title, once again made the playoffs and won the Major League Lacrosse Championship in 2006 over the Denver Outlaws. For the 2007 season, the team moved to the United Sports Training Center in West Bradford Township, Pennsylvania. The Barrage, after winning their 2nd Eastern Conference Title, once again made the playoffs and won the Major League Lacrosse Championship in 2007 over the Los Angeles Riptide. The Barrage become the first team in MLL History to win back to back Steinfield Cup titles by winning the championship in 2006 and 2007.
After subsequent months of rumors, about the status and financial health of the franchise in 2007, Major League Lacrosse assumed operational control of the franchise in 2008. The Barrage played the full 2008 season as a travel team with their designated home games at league promotional sites outside of the Philadelphia area. The team folded before the 2009 season.
2020: Revival
On February 17, 2020, MLL announced it was bringing back the Philadelphia Barrage after it folded the Atlanta Blaze the day before. The league named Blaze general manager Spencer Ford as the Barrage head coach. The team will operate under Mark Burdett, the league's Chief Revenue Officer.
The Barrage were not able to announce a new home venue before the COVID-19 pandemic affected the 2020 season, delaying their official return to Philadelphia until 2021. The team played its first game on July 18 in a quarantined Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium against the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Despite getting out to a 3–0 lead, the team lost in its first game since 2008 by a score of 16–11 to the Bayhawks. On July 20, in third try, the Barrage won their first game since 2008, by a 14–10 score over the new Connecticut Hammerheads.Mark Matthews leads Barrage to their first win since 2008 With a 12–11 comeback win in their last game against the New York Lizards, the Barrage finished their comeback season 2–3, which was not good enough for a playoff berth.
Retirement On December 16, 2020, the MLL-PLL merger was announced. This would bring both major American field lacrosse leagues, Major League Lacrosse and Premier Lacrosse League, together as one entity under the PLL banner. Only the Boston Cannons, rebranded to Cannons Lacrosse Club, would continue to exist through the merger. The rest of the MLL franchises, including the Barrage, would be retired. The PLL does have the option to use the folded franchises' likeness in an expansion.
Roster +2020 Philadelphia Barrage#NameNationalityPositionHeightWeightCollege1P.T. RicciD5 ft 11 in185 lbLoyola2Colin MinicusA5 ft 11 in160 lbAmherst3Alex WoodallFO6 ft 0 in215 lbTowson5Carlson MilikinSSDM6 ft 0 in195 lbNotre Dame9Tim BarberM5 ft 10 in194 lbSyracuse11Chris Madalon (A)G6 ft 3 in210 lbNorth Carolina12James WittmeyerA6 ft 2 in202 lbMercyhurst13Kyle MarrA5 ft 11 in185 lbJohns Hopkins15Brett CraigLSM6 ft 6 in245 lbSeton Hill16Kevin FoxLSM5 ft 9 in170 lbPenn State17Ryan MacSpaydenM6 ft 1 in180 lbMercy21Liam Byrnes (C)D6 ft 3 in195 lbMarquette22Jon MazzaM6 ft 4 in207 lbTowson24Brendan SundayA6 ft 5 in200 lbTowson30William NowesnickD6 ft 6 in240 lbSalisbury31Chad ToliverSSDM5 ft 11 in198 lbRutgers32Shayne Jackson (A)A5 ft 9 in175 lbLimestone33Matt WhitcherSSDM6 ft 3 in200 lbYork (PA)34Shane DossG5 ft 11 in167 lbNotre Dame40Eddie BouhallD6 ft 0 in200 lbLehigh41Mark EvanchickD5 ft 11 in210 lbPenn 42Mark Matthews (A)A6 ft 5 in230 lbDenver43Tyson GibsonM6 ft 1 in188 lbRobert Morris45Anthony JoaquimM6 ft 2 in215 lbSt. Joseph's84Tommy Palasek (A)A5 ft 11 in185 lbSyracuse (C)- captain
(A)- alternate captain
Season-by-season Philadelphia Barrage Year W L Regular season finish Playoffs Bridgeport Barrage2001 3 11 3rd in American Division ---2002 3 11 3rd in American Division ---2003 1 11 3rd in American Division --- Philadelphia Barrage2004 7 5 2nd in American Division Won semifinal 18–17 (OT) over Rattlers Won championship 13–11 over Cannons2005 4 8 3rd in American Division ---2006 10 2 1st in Eastern Conference Won semifinal 17–12 over Cannons Won championship 23–12 over Outlaws2007 9 3 1st in Eastern Conference Won semifinal 13–12 (OT) over Outlaws Won championship 16–13 over Riptide2008 7 5 2nd in Eastern Conference Lost semifinal 16–15 (OT) to Rattlers2009— 2019 Did not play2020 2 3 5th in League ---Totals 46 59Regular season win % = .438 Total playoff record 6 – 1 Playoff win % = 0.857
Game-by-game 2001 Bridgeport Barrage season 2002 Bridgeport Barrage season 2003 Bridgeport Barrage season 2004 Philadelphia Barrage season 2005 Philadelphia Barrage season 2006 Philadelphia Barrage season 2007 Philadelphia Barrage season 2008 Philadelphia Barrage season
+2020 Philadelphia Barrage seasonGameLocationDateOpponentResult1 Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumJuly 18, 2020BayhawksL 11–162Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumJuly 19, 2020OutlawsL 10–153Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumJuly 20, 2020HammerheadsW 14–104Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumJuly 21, 2020CannonsL 10–125Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumJuly 23, 2020LizardsW 12–11
Coaches and others Coaches: Ted Garber 2001: (3–11) Sal LoCascio 2002–2004: (11–27) Tony Resch 2005–2008: (30–18) Spencer Ford 2020: (2–3) General Managers: Ken Paul 2001–2002 Trey Reeder 2003–2004 Keith Mecca 2005–2007
References
See also Lacrosse in Pennsylvania