Harvard Stadium

Boston Cannons, City of Quincy Announce New Partnership to House MLL Team in 2019

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New Partnership with Quincy
The Boston Cannons and City of Quincy have created a partnership to house the Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team in Quincy. (PHOTO COURTESY: Boston Cannons)

By Matt Noonan | @MattNoonan11

Earlier today, the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse (MLL) announced an exciting partnership with the City of Quincy, which will allow the professional lacrosse team to compete at Veterans Memorial Stadium, beginning next June.

The Cannons, who have been competing in the MLL since 2001, recently called Harvard Stadium their home site, but have also hosted games at Gillette Stadium, Cawley Stadium and Nickerson Field.

As noted in today’s release, the organization plans to “make a significant investment to enhance” Veterans Memorial Stadium,” which currently houses both Quincy High School and North Quincy High School football teams, along with various local youth and community teams, as well. Veterans Memorial Stadium currently can seat at least 5,000 fans.

Moving the team from Allston to Quincy will allow the team to continue to grow its presence, both in the city and throughout the South Shore, with its headquarters based not too far away from Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Cannons have called Quincy their home since moving to the city in 2016.

“The Boston Cannons organization is both excited and proud to call Veterans Memorial Stadium our new home,” said Boston Cannons President Ian Frenette earlier today at City Hall in Quincy.

“With the expanding Major League Lacrosse schedule, it was an opportunity for us to assess the best possible home for our organization and we’re thrilled to partner with Mayor (Thomas P.) Koch and the City of Quincy.

“Along with game days, moving to the stadium provides our organization a greater opportunity to grow the game of lacrosse throughout Greater Boston with increased youth clinics, camps, tournaments and presence.”

Boston will host eight games next season at Veterans Memorial Stadium, beginning with its season-opener on Saturday, June 1st when they welcome the Ohio Machine to Quincy.

Stay connected with our lacrosse coverage on Twitter by following @Noontime_Lax! 

MLL Commissioner Brown Is Excited For Thursday’s All-Star Game

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Mayor Photo Three
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh poses with MLL Commissioner Alexander Brown (middle) and Davey Emala (right). (PHOTO CREDIT: Regan Communications)

By NoontimeSports.com (@NoontimeSports) 

The Major League Lacrosse (MLL) All-Star Game is scheduled for Thursday, June 28th at Harvard Stadium.

It promises to be an exciting evening of lacrosse – if you’re new to the sport, this would be a great introduction!

This year, 30 MLL All-Stars will compete against Team USA, which will be headed overseas in a few weeks to compete at the FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Netanya, Israel.

Team USA edged the MLL All-Stars four years ago in this same contest before finishing second at the FIL World Lacrosse Championships, which were held in Denver, Colorado.

Some of the players headlining the MLL All-Star team include Davey Emala (Ohio Machine), Scott Ratliff (Atlanta Blaze) and Will Manny (New York Lizards).

MLL Commissioner Alexander Brown certainly seems excited for the upcoming contest – in fact, he told us last week that he “thinks it’s going to be a great game.”

“We’ve got two highly competitive teams that are going to be going up against each other and a number of interesting storylines associated with the game. I think it is going to be a great night for lacrosse,” said Brown.

“Boston has had a lot of success with this game and I think the weather is going to cooperate with us. There is nothing like getting to see the absolute best in any sport on the field in any one time, especially in a competitive environment, and I think that is going to bode well for our game.

“If you’re a sports fan, it is worth coming out to see (this game on Thursday) because it is a very reasonable ticket and there will be a lot of things around the game, so it should be very much a festival atmosphere, so I would encourage fans to make their way to Harvard Stadium.”

Noontime Sports will be at this year’s MLL All-Star Game – you can follow our in-game coverage on Twitter by following @Noontime_Lax.

For more information on Thursday’s MLL All-Star Game, as well as ticket information – HOP HERE! 

Boston Cannons Announce High School Rivalry Series

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Boston Cannons Helmet. (PHOTO CREDIT: Reed Smith’s Photography)

By Matt Noonan (@MattNoonan11)

The Boston Cannons announced this morning their High School Rivalry Series, which will take place before select home games later this season.

The High School Rivalry series is presented by Plymouth Rock Assurance.

Catholic Memorial and Malden Catholic will be the first two teams to compete in the series – the two squads will face-off at Harvard Stadium on Saturday, May 5th at 3:30 p.m. before Boston entertains the Dallas Rattlers at 6 p.m.

Governor’s Academy will square-off against St. Sebastian’s one week later on Saturday, May 12th at Harvard Stadium with the game scheduled to commence at 3 p.m.

The final two matchups with take place in Hingham on Saturday, May 19th with the girls team hosting Braintree at 12 p.m. followed by the boy’s team entertaining Needham at 2 p.m. Boston and the Chesapeake Bayhawks will also compete in Hingham that same day with face-off scheduled for 6 p.m.

For more information on the upcoming High School Rivalry Series – HOP HERE!

Lax Notebook: MLL Collegiate Draft Is TONIGHT!

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NS Lax Notebook2018

By NoontimeSports.com (@NoontimeSports) 

The 2018 Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Collegiate Draft is scheduled for this evening (Wednesday, April 18th).

Fans of the MLL can watch live coverage of the draft on Lax Sports Network (LSN), beginning at 5:30 p.m. The actual draft itself will begin at 6:30 p.m.

According to the MLL website, 63 players will be selected from the college lacrosse world this evening, including five current student-athletes by the Boston Cannons. Boston has the top pick in this year’s draft and will most likely select someone to join either their offense (attack) or defense with the selection.

The last time Cannons entered the draft with the top pick was in 2008 when they selected Paul Rabil from Johns Hopkins. Rabil would help the Cannons with their initial MLL crown three years later when Boston outlasted the Hamilton Nationals at Harvard Stadium.

Rabil no longer plays for the Cannons as he is currently a member of the New York Lizards. New York finished fifth overall last season with a 7-7 ledger.

In addition to the top pick, Boston also owns a quartet of picks, including a pair of selections in the third round (19th and 26th picks). The Cannons will also pick in the sixth (46) and seventh (55) rounds, too.

Expect the Cannons to use their initial pick on either an attack or defensive player, according to US Lacrosse Magazine. A possible first-round pick for the Cannons could be University of Albany’s Connor Fields, who currently leads the Great Danes this season in assists (32) and points (58). He is second on the team in goals (26).

A few other possible targets for the top pick include Trevor Baptiste (University of Denver), Connor Kelly (University of Maryland) and Justin Guterding (Duke University).

Pre-Draft Reading: Get ready for the 2018 MLL Collegiate Draft with some great stories from around the web!

Ivy League Football Set To Kick-Off This Weekend

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Ivy League Football returns this weekend with a big match-up looming after the first week between Harvard and Brown at Harvard Stadium. (PHOTO CREDIT: Bleacher Report)

By Bob Whitney (@WhitneyBob)

The Ivy League does things just a tad different. As opposed to the Power 5 conferences, which enter their third week of play, the Ivies get around to starting their 62th football season with a full slate of games this weekend.

All eyes will be on the Princeton Tigers, which claimed its second title in the past four years in 2016, was picked to finish first in the preseason poll.

Harvard, a dominant force in the league over the past decade (six titles) and still smarting from last year’s upset in THE GAME (21-14) to the Yale Bulldogs, joined Princeton as a preseason favorite.

Penn, Yale and Dartmouth figure to contend for the title with Brown, Columbia and Cornell projected to be real long shots.

Harvard opens its 144th season on Saturday (1 p.m.) at Rhode Island (0-2).

The game with the Rams will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two schools. The Crimson won the first game in 1923 at Harvard Stadium, 35-0, and last year, trounced the Rams, 51-21, at Harvard Stadium.

The Crimson has a number of All-Ivy players returning from last year’s squad 7-3 (5-2 Ivy League) which include defensive stalwarts, Luke Hutton, Raishaun McGhee, DJ Bailey, Jake McIntyre, Tanner Lee, Adam Scott and wide receiver Justice Shelton-Mosley.

Shelton-Mosley was a unanimous selection to the All-Ivy League first team last year, with 48 catches for 568 yards and one touchdown.

Defensively, Hutton and Lee will lead the defensive unit that was among the nation’s best in scoring defense and rushing defense in 2016.

Offensively, the Crimson should be in good shape, with experience at the skilled positions in quarterback Joe Viviano and running back Semar Smith along with Shelton-Mosley.

URI is led by quarterback Tyler Harris who has thrown four touchdown passes in their two losses. Last week, in a 35-18 loss to Stony Brook, Harris was 15-of-32 for 185 yards. Wide receivers Aaron Parker and Marven Beauvais will pose a challenge for the Harvard secondary.

Defensively, D.J. Stewart has been a force with a team-high 22 tackles.

Bob’s Prediction: It is the first game for Harvard, but the offense and Shelton-Mosely should have a field day with an under-performing Ram defense in Kingston, Rhode Island. Harvard 42 – URI 10

Next week: Harvard will host Brown in its home opener on Saturday, September 23 with a noon kickoff. The game will be televised on NESN.

Around the Ancient Eight: In other local Ivy action of note, Brown will open their 140th season on Saturday against Bryant University at Brown Stadium. Former Ivy League Player of the Year James Perry, who led Brown to the Ivy title in 1999, is the first year coach at Bryant.

The Ivy League football teams have fared well on opening day with a 49-39 (.557) record over the past 11 seasons (2005-15).

The NFL opened the season with 20 former Ivy Leaguers on NFL rosters (14 on active rosters).

When Harvard faces URI it will mark the 1,303rd varsity football game. The Crimson’s all-time record is 864-388-50 (.683).

Various Ivy League media outlets utilized to compile this report. 

Follow Bob Whitney on Twitter @WhitneyBob; like him on Facebook and Instagram