The North American Lacrosse League season has come and gone. Like any professional sports league, it had plenty of on and off the field drama. Today, we are going to take a look at the season that was in the never boring NALL.
Off Season
August 29th: Baltimore Bombers announced as expansion team
The Bombers will be operated by Hunter Francis, widely known in lacrosse circles. Francis will serve as the managing partner of the ownership group, and will also serve as its acting Head Coach.
September 28th- Rhode Island names former NLLer Charlie Blanchard head coach
Playing five years in the MILL, Blanchard had a career 119 points. His best season was 1997, his last year, where he scored 39 points in ten games.
October 11th- League announces schedule
October 15th- NALL heads into 2013 with confidence
“I am confident that we will not experience the breakdown in follow through that we experienced last year due to teams not being ready and/or choosing not to participate as expected.” said Tony Chase, owner of the Stickhorses. “We have released our schedule and I am 100% certain that all games will be played and that the Championship Weekend will be an enormous success.”
December 13th- Kentucky scrimmages
Also scoring goals were Eric O’Brien, who was with the team last year, Josh Kacprzak who was recently cut by the Rochester Knighthawks, Audi Glass, Mike Murphy, Tommy Dooley and Anderson Morgan.
December 22nd- Kingfish will not play home games
According to multiple sources, the Rhode Island Kingfish will not be playing at Boss Arena at the University of Rhode Island. The team is currently trying to find another home arena to play in Rhode Island, but if that does not work out they will still play all of their road games scheduled.
December 28th- League looking to Rochester
The new owners plan to spend several million dollars modernizing the 40-year-old building. Plans include increasing the seating capacity to 7,000 and possibly installing an ice rink.
January
January 2nd- Stickhorses sign Chazz Woodson
Last night the Kentucky Stickhorses signed forward Chazz Woodson to their roster. Woodson had a great MLL season this summer with the Ohio Machine and is one of the biggest names in pro lacrosse.
January 6th- Boston defeats Kentucky in game one
January 13th- Baltimore defeats Boston in OT
January 13th- Kentucky gets first win over Rhode Island
January 20th- Kentucky struggles in second loss to Boston
Kentucky would have some defensive breakdowns and were saved by the post, resulting in a goal from Eric O’Brien for the Stickhorses. Mike McClellan would score a power play goal a few minutes later.
January 21st- Baltimore wins second game
January 27th- Rockhoppers blow out Bombers
Boston scored nine goals in a row in the third and shut out the Bombers. The Baltimore defense struggled and Boston had several wide open shots. Mike Stone scored two in that quarter along with Ethan Vedder.
February
February 2nd- Bombers move to 3-1 with defeat of Stickhorses
For the Stickhorses, this becomes very close to a must win game as they are now two games under .500. Another loss to Baltimore and they lose the tie breaker for the season when they already lost it to Boston. They need a win badly, and they better hope McClellan is back and they get another goaltending performance like they did tonight. That game could mean their season.
February 3rd- Rockhoppers starting to dominate
February 4th- Kentucky picks up second win
February 8th- Synowiez traded to Rhode Island
February 18th- Boston blows out Baltimore on the road again
Boston scored three power play goals in the first half as Baltimore struggled with penalties throughout. Things boiled over when Matt Alrich was ejected for slamming his stick off the boards after he had been called for a roughing penalty.
February 25th- Stickhorses lose for fourth time
March
March 3rd- Rockhoppers win sixth game
Kentucky dominated the game on the floor with 58 loose balls picked up, showing their effort and fight in winning battles. On some nights, a team like Boston can just win a game on talent alone. There is no doubt, and you can see just from the stats, Kentucky has made some adjustments. But is it enough to become a champion of this league?
March 9th- Bombers leave league
Today the future of box lacrosse in the US seems unclear. Yet I remain optimistic the roots we have planted will flourish and in good time we will be crowding into rinks to watch the college stars of yesterday become the undisputed stars of tomorrow. So please continue to lend us your support.
March 17th- Rockhoppers defeat Stickhorses for championship
Once again the Stickhorses had trouble on transition allowing several fast breaks to a Boston team that likes to run and gun. They didn’t make any adjustments on defense or offense since their last contest, and that’s why they lost this game.
