The 2017 Major League Lacrosse season was the 17th season of Major League Lacrosse. Featuring the same nine teams as 2016, the season began on April 22. All four games played on opening weekend were won by the road team and decided by one goal, two in overtime. The season culminated in the championship game on August 19 in Frisco, Texas at The Ford Center at The Star. In a rematch of the 2016 championship game, the Ohio Machine defeated the Denver Outlaws 17–12, capturing their first Steinfeld Cup in franchise history.[1]
The 2017 season was the last one headed by commissioner David Gross. It was announced on December 23, 2016 that the league's commissioner since 2004 would be stepping down after the season.
Milestones and events
November 15, 2016 - The 2017 MLL schedule is announced. Notable games include a 2016 Steinfeld Cup rematch on July 15 in Denver between the Outlaws and the Machine. The Blaze will be the Outlaws' opponent in their annual Independence Day game for the first time on Tuesday, July 4.
November 16 - The village of Obetz announces the construction of a new 6,500-seat multi-purpose stadium, Fortress Obetz at the site of the closed Columbus Motor Speedway. The stadium will be finished in time for the Machine's first home game on May 6. It will be the third venue in franchise history.[2]
December 7 - The league announces that the 2017 MLL All Star Game will be played at the 11,500-seat Bonney Field in Sacramento. It is the second straight year that the event will be held in California.[3]
December 23 - Commissioner David Gross announces he will be stepping down after the 2017 season. Gross became the league's first commissioner in 2004.[4]
January 19, 2017 - The Rattlers announce that they will return to Rochester Rhinos Stadium after one season at Wegman's Stadium at the Aquinas Institute, which only sat 2,000. The Rattlers played at Rhinos Stadium between 2006 and 2015.[5]
February 15 - The league announces that the 2017 MLL Championship Game will be held at The Ford Center at The Star, in Frisco, Texas.[6] It will be the first championship game held in the state of Texas and only second championship game held west of the Mississippi River, as well as only the second Major League Lacrosse event held in Texas.
April 19 - John Grant Jr. announces his retirement after 13 seasons in the league. He is the league's all-time leader in goals scored in a career and a game (10). The same day, it was announced he would be joining his former team the Denver Outlaws as an assistant.[7]
April 25 - Attackman Brendan Mundorf announces his retirement from the league after ten seasons with the Outlaws and Bayhawks. He retires with 291 career goals, second-most in MLL history.[8]
April 28 - The league announces a partnership with Twitter, who will stream 15 regular season games in the 2017 season, and the two semifinal games.[9] Twitter also partnered up with the National Lacrosse League in 2017.
May 28 - The collegiate draft took place in Foxborough, Massachuttes, on NCAA Championship Weekend. 2016 Tewaaraton Award winner Dylan Molloy, an attackman from Brown University, was selected by the Florida Launch with the first overall pick.[10] Florida drafted Nick Mariano and Sergio Salcido, both from Syracuse, with its two other first round picks.[11]
June 27 - The 3–6 Cannons traded away team captain Will Manny and Joe LoCascio to the New York Lizards for Dave Lawson and Chris LaPierre.[12] On July 14, the Cannons announced that neither Lawson nor LaPierre would suit up for the team that season. Dave Lawson informed team officials that he would be retiring from the league while Chris LaPierre decided not to report to the team.[13]
July 8 - The All Star Game took place at Papa Murphy's Park in Sacramento. Myles Jones won the game for Team Stripes in overtime, 21-20 over Team Stars, in front of 7,761 fans.[14]
Coaching changes
Florida Launch - Tom Mariano, former assistant for the Bayhawks, was announced as the second coach in franchise history on December 7. This is after Stan Ross resigned on November 17 following a 13–29 combined record in his first three seasons.[15]
League attendance reached a record low in 2017, driven by one-third and one-fourth drops for Boston and Chesapeake, respectively. However, for the first time since the 2013 season, only one team, Charlotte, finished with an average of under 2,000 a game.[16]
Team
Total
Average
Change
Denver
64,490
9,212
-2%
New York
36,203
5,171
-2%
Boston
33,969
4,852
-32%
Chesapeake
33,587
4,798
-24%
Ohio
17,157
2,451
29%
Florida
16,086
2,298
36%
Rochester
15,343
2,191
51%
Atlanta
14,259
2,037
-39%
Charlotte
11,105
1,586
-21%
League
242,199
3,844
-10%
Playoffs
On February 15, the league announced the Steinfeld Cup would be held at The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. After being held at neutral locations in 2016, the two semifinal games were held at the home stadiums of the two top-seeded teams, Denver and Ohio. Both teams cruised to home playoff wins over Rochester and Florida, respectively.
On August 19, the Outlaws and Machine played a rematch of the 2016 championship. This time, however, the Machine were victorious. Ohio came back from a four-goal third quarter deficit to win 17-12.[1] Ohio scored the last seven goals of the game; Marcus Holman had three straight within four minutes in the fourth quarter and 6 points overall to earn the MVP award. 7,543 fans attended the game.[17]
^Souza, Scott (August 2017). "What Happened?". New England Lacrosse Journal. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
