What defines a dynasty in professional sports? The credentials can be debated, but we know for sure that the Chesapeake Bayhawks are the MLL’s first dynasty.Major League Lacrosse has existed for 12 years. Since then just one team has won five championships; the Chesapeake Bayhawks. But that’s not even what officially makes the ‘Hawks a dynasty. They have won three of the last four league championships.
Yesterday the Bayhawks defeated the Charlotte Hounds to take the league title. The year before they topped the Denver Outlaws, and two years previous they beat the then Long Island Lizards.
“For us, its just an honor to get this thing again, and head into next year.” said Drew Westervelt.
The Bayhawks started out in Washington and later Baltimore, but all along they have been an atlantic region team. Does that give them an advantage when bringing players in, due to the majority of elite lacrosse colleges being in the same area? Probably. But you can’t doubt their championship credentials.
“Experience. We knew what it took to win.” said the game MVP John Grant Jr. “We have been here before. You know, whether we played our best game or not, that doesn’t matter now-we played well enough to win.”
Lacrosse is a young sport at the professional level, so to have a dynasty at all is impressive. The Philadelphia Wings and Toronto Rock each have six to lead the NLL all time, but that league has existed since 1986. MLL has been around since just 2001, making this Bayhawks dynasty all the more impressive.
“100% Team Chemistry.” says Brian Spallina. “Everyone bought in. This is just a team through and through. Nobody wanted any individual awards-I don’t think we even got one. Ultimately the end goal came true for us. This is just a pure team win.”
