2001 Major League Lacrosse season

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.

2001 MLL season
League	Major League Lacrosse
Sport	Field lacrosse
Duration	May 2001 – August 2001
Number of teams	6
TV partner(s)	Fox Sports Net

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 Division
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
Long Island Lizards	10	4	.714	216	196
Boston Cannons	3	11	.214	183	221
Bridgeport Barrage	3	11	.214	190	216

National Division
Team	W	L	PCT	PF	PA
Baltimore Bayhawks	10	4	.714	195	172
Rochester Rattlers	8	6	.571	185	159
New Jersey Pride	8	6	.571	197	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.^[1] 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.

	Semifinals September 1					Steinfeld Cup Final September 3
	Long Island (10–4)		13
	Rochester (8–6)		12
						Long Island		15
						Baltimore		11
	Baltimore (10–4)		12
	Boston (3–11)		11

Awards

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	Ryan Powell	Rochester
Rookie of the Year Award	Keith Cromwell	Bridgeport
Coach of the Year Award	John DeTommaso	Long Island
Defensive player of the Year Award	Rob Doerr	Baltimore
Offensive player of the Year Award	John Grant, Jr.	Rochester
Goaltender of the Year Award	Greg Cattrano	Baltimore
Iron Lizard Award	Joe Ghedina	Long Island

Weekly Awards

Week	Offensive	Defensive
1	Jesse Hubbard	Rob Doerr
2	Casey Powell	Jim Mule
3	Ryan Powell	Brian Dougherty
4	D'Arcy Sweet Terry 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

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	Jesse Hubbard	New Jersey	44
Two-Point Goals	David Evans	Boston	6
Assists	Jon Hess	New Jersey	39
Points	Ryan Powell	Rochester	63
Face-off Pct	Andy Towers	Boston	.580
Save Pct	Greg Cattrano	Baltimore	.583
GAA	Brian Dougherty	Rochester	11.7