The 2001 Major League Lacrosse season was the inaugural season of the new semi-professional men's field lacrosse league. The league began play with six founding teams: Baltimore Bayhawks, Boston Cannons, Bridgeport Barrage, Long Island Lizards, New Jersey Pride and Rochester Rattlers. Each team played a 14-game regular season schedule that ended with a championship game on September 3, 2001.
Major League Lacrosse (MLL) played its first game on June 7 when Baltimore defeated Long Island 16–13 score at Homewood Field in Baltimore. Baltimore's Chris Turner scored the first goal in MLL regular season history. Those same two teams met in the Steinfeld Cup, the championship trophy named for co-founder Jake Steinfeld, with the Lizards turning the tables and beating the Bayhawks 15–11.
Regular season Qualified for playoffs
American DivisionTeam Long Island Lizards 104.714216196 Boston Cannons311.214183221 Bridgeport Barrage311.214190216
National DivisionTeam Baltimore Bayhawks10 4 .714 195 172 Rochester Rattlers8 6 .571 185 159 New Jersey Pride8 6 .571197 199
Boston beat Bridgeport in 3 of 4 regular season games, Rochester beat New Jersey in 3 of 4 regular season games.
All Star Game The inaugural Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game was hosted by the Bridgeport Barrage at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut on August 2, 2001. The National division team beat the American division 24–18. Mark Millon was the game's MVP.
Playoffs The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The 1st place team from one division would play the 2nd place team from the other division in the semifinals. All games were played at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The format resulted in Boston (3–11) making the playoffs while New Jersey (8–6) did not. The format was changed the following season, so the two division winners and the next two best teams regardless of division made the playoffs.
Awards AwardWinnerTeamMVP AwardRyan PowellRochesterRookie of the Year AwardKeith Cromwell BridgeportCoach of the Year AwardJohn DeTommaso Long IslandDefensive player of the Year AwardRob DoerrBaltimore Offensive player of the Year AwardJohn Grant, Jr.Rochester Goaltender of the Year AwardGreg Cattrano BaltimoreIron Lizard AwardJoe GhedinaLong Island
Weekly Awards
Week Offensive Defensive 1 Jesse Hubbard Rob Doerr 2 Casey Powell Jim Mule 3 Ryan Powell Brian Dougherty 4 D'Arcy SweetTerry Riordan Steve Koudelka 5 D'Arcy Sweet Greg Cattrano 6 Mark Millon Greg Cattrano 7 Jay Jalbert John Gagliardi 8 John Grant, Jr. Brian Dougherty 9 David Curry Bill Daye 10 John Grant, Jr. Regy Thorpe 11 John Grant, Jr. Rob Doerr 12 Greg Traynor Sal LoCascio 13 Paul Gait Pat McCabe
Statistics leaders StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsJesse HubbardNew Jersey44Two-Point GoalsDavid EvansBoston6AssistsJon HessNew Jersey39PointsRyan PowellRochester63Face-off PctAndy TowersBoston.580Save PctGreg CattranoBaltimore.583GAABrian DoughertyRochester11.7
References