As the college lacrosse season is in full swing, the pro lacrosse world continues to buzz with excitement. Several days ago, Major League Lacrosse, the premier outdoor professional lacrosse league, announced the two locations for the 2016 MLL Steinfeld Cup Tournament. The semi-final games in this year’s postseason will be hosted on two neutral sites: Rafferty Stadium at Fairfield University, and the National Sports Center Stadium in Blaine, Minnesota.
The news is historic, as this is the first time in history that the entirety of the semifinals will be held in non-MLL site locations. This also has major implications down the line, as the ever-expanding league’s ability to secure venues in growing lacrosse beds show possibilities for future teams through events and games such as these. For example, the MLL’s All-Star game festivities will once again take place in Texas, an area where the MLL is highly interested in, as the recently created Florida Launch were the product of the 2012 All-Star games in Boca Raton.
Fairfield University is no stranger to lacrosse. The school hosts an NCAA DI lacrosse program in the Stags, who are currently 2-5 on the season, recently going up against an undefeated and Top 10 ranked Yale Bulldogs in southern Connecticut. The stadium that hosts the mens and women’s games, Rafferty Stadium, is a lacrosse-specific venue that seats 3,500. Meanwhile, lacrosse has been gaining more and more ground in Minnesota, recently hosting the Minnesota Swarm in the NLL for a number of seasons. The Nation Sports Center in the area, Blaine, can seat up to 10,000, and has hosted lacrosse venues in the past.
Rafferty Stadium will host the first Semi-Final game at 4:00 pm ET while the National Sports Center Stadium will host the second Semi-Final game at 6:30 pm ET. Meanwhile, the first game of the 2016 MLL season will have the Chesapeake Bayhawks play against the newest MLL team, the Atlanta Blaze, on Saturday, April 23 05:00 PM EST in Kennesaw, Georgia, the location of the 2014 and 2015 MLL Finals.
