MLL Press Release wrote:February 13, 2006 - Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced today that the 2006 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend will take place at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles on August 25 and 27, according to MLL Commissioner David Gross. The semi-final games will be held at 5:30 PM PT and 8:00 PM PT on Friday, August 25. The two semi-final winners will advance to the New Balance Championship Game on Sunday, August 27. The Championship Game will air live on ESPN2 with the time to be determined later. The Los Angeles Riptide, one of MLL’s four expansion franchises, begin play in the 2006 season.
“Lacrosse is born to be played in Los Angeles and the combination of world class athletes, weather and stars makes L.A. the perfect home for our first post expansion New Balance Championship Weekend,” said MLL Founder Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global. “We look forward to partnering with Tim Leiweke, Shawn Hunter and AEG, the preeminent leader in sports and entertainment to provide an amazing experience for all MLL fans. I know if you weren’t an MLL fan before this weekend, you absolutely will be after this awesome weekend.”
Tickets for both days of New Balance Championship Weekend are already on sale. Prices will range from $15-$75 per day, with discounts available for youths and groups of 20 or more. For more information, contact the Riptide ticket office at 1-866-4-LAX-TIX.
The playoff berth format will differ in 2006 with the newly formed expansion Western Conference. The winners of each conference, Eastern and Western, advance to New Balance Championship Weekend. Two wild card spots are awarded to the two teams with the next best regular season records, regardless of conference. The conference winner with the better record plays the wild card team with the lesser record in one Semi-Final game, with the remaining conference winner and wild card team facing off in the other Semi-Final.
The Baltimore Bayhawks, Boston Cannons, Long Island Lizards and Rochester Rattlers advanced to last year’s New Balance MLL Championship Weekend. The Bayhawks won their second MLL title, beating the Lizards by 15-9 in the New Balance Championship Game. Baltimore player-coach Gary Gait was named the game’s Bud Light MVP, scoring six goals. Bayhawks midfielder Paul Cantabene won 20 of 26 face-offs helping Baltimore secure the win. The Bayhawks and Lizards have appeared in four of the five MLL New Balance Championship Games, with each team winning twice. Philadelphia and Boston played in the 2004 New Balance Championship Game, with the Barrage prevailing 13-11. Baltimore and Boston are the only two teams to appear in the playoffs in each of the MLL’s first five seasons. Long Island has appeared four times, Rochester three, New Jersey two and Philadelphia one.
As an anchor level corporate sponsor of Major League Lacrosse, New Balance is the “Official Footwear and Sideline Apparel of Major League Lacrosse.” The New Balance logo also appears on the Boston Cannons team uniform. The Warrior Burn lacrosse shoe by New Balance debuted in February 2004. Designed and tested by members of the Warrior Lacrosse Players Club Team, the Burn is the world’s first lacrosse shoe developed by the world’s best players.
2006 NEW BALANCE CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND IN LOS ANGELES
