Boston Cannons


The Boston Cannons are a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They have played in the MLL since the inaugural 2001 season and have won two Steinfeld Cup championship games. The team's home field is Veterans Memorial Stadium in nearby Quincy.

Franchise History

The Boston Cannons is one of the original six teams of Major League Lacrosse, and the only team from the MLL’s inaugural 2001 season to still exist today in the same market, without having folded or moved elsewhere. MLL was founded by Jake Steinfeld, Dave Morrow, and Tim Robertson. The Boston Cannons Founder and President is Matt Dwyer. From their inaugural season of 2001 through 2003, the Cannons played their home games at Cawley Memorial Stadium in Lowell, Massachusetts. In their inaugural 2001 season, the Cannons finished with a record of 3-11 but still qualified for the playoffs finishing in second place in the division. In 2004, they moved to Nickerson Field at Boston University where they played through the 2006 season. In 2007, they moved to Harvard Stadium in Allston, a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts which is less than 2 miles from Nickerson Field and also less than 2 miles from the Cannons' main office in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston qualified for the MLL playoffs 2001-2006, 2009-2011 and 2015. The Cannons won the 2004 and 2005 American Division championships.
On March 20, 2007, the Cannons completed a trade with the Washington Bayhawks. In the trade, the Cannons gave up Connor Gill and Ryan Curtis and in return they acquired Michael Powell, Ben DeFelice, and a 2008 conditional draft choice. After the 2008 season, Powell left lacrosse to pursue a career as a singer with his band "Villains Trust". The Cannons selected Paul Rabil as the first overall pick in the 2008 MLL Draft.

2011 championship season

The Cannons won the Steinfeld Cup for the first time in 2011, defeating the Hamilton Nationals 10-9. Boston went 9-3 in the regular season, their best record since going 10-2 in 2005. After losing to Chesapeake 13-9 in the 2010 semifinal, the Cannons avenged the Bayhawks by defeating them 14-13 in the 2011 semifinal with a goal from Max Quinzani. Boston became the fifth charter franchise to win a championship. By 2011, the Cannons were one of four charter franchises still in the league that started with six teams in 2001. The other three remaining charter franchises. Head coach Bill Daye stepped down a month after winning the Steinfeld Cup, citing he wanted to spend more time with his family. As of 2016, Daye is still the franchise's all-time leader in coaching victories with 43 and the only head coach with multiple playoff victories.

2013–2018

The Cannons in 2013 and 2014 finished 5–9 and 6–8. This included a 1–5 start in 2013 leading to Steve Duffy's firing on June 10. John Tucker took his place and played.500 for the rest of the season. After the Cannons missed the playoffs for the fourth time in franchise history in 2014, Tucker led the team back to the postseason in 2015 as the 8–6 fourth seed. They played the New York Lizards and lost 16–15 in overtime. The Lizards went on to win the Steinfeld Cup.
John Tucker left the Cannons after the 2015 season to become the first head coach and general manager of the expansion team Atlanta Blaze. On October 8, 2015, Sean Quirk was announced as the sixth head coach in franchise history. In an odd 2016 year in which seven of the league's nine teams, including the Cannons, finished with identical 8-6 records, Quirk's team was not rewarded with one of the four playoff spots after tie-breaking procedures. On December 20, 2016, it was announced that John Tucker would be returning to the Cannons as the team's offensive coordinator in 2017. Tucker was fired mid-season by the Blaze after a 3-7 start.
Despite a Week 1 win in 2017, the Cannons season turned around. At 3-6, the Cannons traded away captain Will Manny and Joe LoCascio to the New York Lizards for Dave Lawson and Chris LaPierre on June 27. On July 14, the Cannons announced that neither Lawson nor LaPierre would suit up for the team that season. Dave Lawson informed team officials that he would be retiring from the league while Chris LaPierre decided not to report to the team. The Cannons finished the season on a six-game losing streak. At 3-11, the Cannons posted the worst record in the league and tied their franchise-worst record from 2001, their inaugural season.

2019 to present: New pro lacrosse landscape and second title

Following the 2018 season, Paul Rabil launched the Premier Lacrosse League, baiting over 140 MLL players to migrate over. However, the Cannons maintained more of their roster than other teams like the Dallas Rattlers or Rabil's New York Lizards. Two months prior to the start of the 2019 season, the league cut the team roster from nine to six when the Ohio Machine and Florida Launch folded and Charlotte Hounds suspended operations for two seasons. Taking this to their advantage, the Cannons posted a 9-7 record in 2019, good enough for the third of four postseason seeds and gave Boston its first playoff berth since 2015. Boston faced the Denver Outlaws in the semifinal, who were also hosting Championship Weekend. The Cannons got off to a hot start and led by as many as six goals, but ultimately fell, 17-15, ending their season.
2019 was the Cannons' first season in Quincy. During the offseason they announced a move to and $1.5 million renovation of Veterans Memorial Stadium.. The Cannons announced two sellouts in their first season in the updated venue.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 season was shortened to five regular season games in seven days, all to be played in front of no fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. The Cannons finished fourth place out of six teams with a 3-2 record, and were the only team to defeat the Denver Outlaws in the regular season. Heading into the postseason, the Cannons were scheduled to play the Outlaws in the semifinal. However, after a player from the Chesapeake Bayhawks experience symptoms of COVID-19 and eventually tested positive, the two other postseason competitors, Chesapeake and Connecticut, withdrew from the tournament. The Cannons' semifinal game with the Outlaws was pushed back a day and would be played as the championship. Boston defeated Denver for the second time in two days, the latter in 13-10 fashion for the franchise's second title, first in nine years. Newcomer attackman Bryce Wasserman, who played for the Dallas Rattlers the season before, was named league MVP for 2020.

General Managers

Roster

Most Valuable Player
Rookie of the Year
Coach of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Offensive Player of the Year
Goalie of the Year
David Huntley Man of the Year
Most Improved Player

Draft History

First Round Selections

The Cannons often reach out to the local community, hosting a variety of lacrosse camps and events for local youth. In addition, the Cannons support MetroLacrosse, by arranging scholarships for MetroLacrosse players and donating tickets for each home game to MetroLacrosse players and families. MetroLacrosse also maintains a booth in the Fan Zone for each home game.