January 18, 2012
Boston franchise eyes NALL uncertainty
by Chuck Jaffe/
In the twisting world of professional box lacrosse in New England, the region lost a team last fall — when the Boston Blazers canceled their 2012 National Lacrosse League season — gained one in December, but was left wondering about the future come January.
The new North American Lacrosse League announced in late December that a franchise had been awarded to Tyler Low and Jason Wellemeyer, owner-operators of PrimeTime Lacrosse, a Massachusetts-based business that offers camps, clinics, tournaments and select teams. In 2010, the duo — both in their mid-20s — was ranked third on Bloomberg Business Week’s list of “top young entrepreneurs.”
The NALL intends to be a developmental league, with at least 80 percent of each team’s 23-man rosters being American-born players, playing a season that runs from January into April. The yet-to-be-named Boston-area franchise announced plans to join the NALL in 2013; Low said the team was finalizing an arena deal — with Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Mass., the front-runner — and that he expected to hire a coach and staff in the spring.
As those plans were announced, the NALL was preparing to start its inaugural season with five franchises: the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Shamrocks, Hershey Haymakers, Jacksonville Bullies, Kentucky Stickhorses and Charlotte Copperheads.
On New Year’s Eve, however, the NALL scrapped a supplemental draft after a disagreement between its team owners over when to play the season, with some apparently favoring a fall slate to avoid competing against the National Lacrosse League and a new developmental league in Canada.
Within days, the 2012 season was in limbo, with at least one team falling out because it had not secured arena dates. Two of the five franchises were expecting to stick with the original plan, even if it meant playing what amounted to a season of exhibition games.
If that happens — and there were conflicting reports about the league at press time — Low said the New England franchise might actually put together a squad to play some exhibitions on the road this winter.
“One reason we are interested in having a team is the tremendous local talent base in the area, and it would be great if we can tap into that to put together a squad for exhibition games, to help out the other teams and build some name recognition in the community here,” Low said early this month, “but our plan is still to start our first season in 2013.”
Any new team in New England should have an eager fan base, courtesy of the Blazers; an announcement about the future of that National Lacrosse League franchise is expected in February.
If the Blazers return to the New England area, Low said it “might impact (the future) for the new team, but our goal is not to compete with the NLL, it’s to build the North American league and this version of the game. What matters to us is the growth of the game of lacrosse in New England; we know this area will support a box lacrosse team, and we think we can develop a team that generates a lot of local interest.”
MegaMen triumph
The MegaMen won the first-ever Boston Box Lacrosse League title with a 13-12 win over the Blazers on Dec. 20 in Revere, Mass. Former Boston Blazer Chris Ajemian scored the game-winner on a feed from Chris Renzi with 21.7 seconds remaining in regulation.
The MegaMen finished a perfect 11-0 during the first session of the Boston Box League; former National Lacrosse League player Bryan Bendig of the MegaMen led the league in scoring with 41 goals and 12 assists for 53 points, one better than Ethan Vetter of the third-place Orphans team, who went 38-12-52. Vetter, in December, was drafted by the Kentucky Stickhorses of the North American Lacrosse League and in the Major Lacrosse League supplemental draft by the Boston Cannons.
The Boston Box League is the top level of amateur box lacrosse currently played in New England, featuring current members of the Vermont Voyageurs, nearly a dozen NALL draft picks, former NLL and U.S. Indoor Developmental squad players along with some of the region’s best college grads.
WIT upgrades women
Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston has announced plans to elevate its women’s lacrosse program from club status to varsity for the 2012-13 school year.
The Boston school has hired Jess Blair as its head coach and named Julie Lancaster as an assistant coach. Blair — a native of Middlebury, Vt., and a graduate of Endicott College — has been the coach of the Leopards club team since the fall of 2010, after two seasons as head coach at Pine Manor College. Lancaster, of Waterville, Maine, is no stranger to new programs, as she was a freshman on the first varsity team at Southern New Hampshire University.
Wentworth joins the Commonwealth Coast Conference, where it will compete against Anna Maria, Colby-Sawyer, Curry, Endicott, Gordon, New England College, University of New England, Regis, Roger Williams, Salve Regina and Western New England.
Northwestern to Gillette
Defending NCAA women’s lacrosse champion Northwestern will play Ohio State at Gillette Stadium on March 31. The Wildcats and Buckeyes are both members of the American Lacrosse Conference.
The Wildcats have ties to Massachusetts with seven current team members hailing from the Bay State. Ohio State has no local players but has one tie to Gillette Stadium success in assistant coach Amanda Belichick, daughter of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Bowdoin coach to step down
Longtime Bowdoin College men’s head coach Tom McCabe announced recently that the 2012 season will be his last with the Polar Bears. McCabe, who has led the program since 1991, will step down following the completion of this season to join his wife, Pat, an elementary physical education teacher in Brunswick, Maine, in the Peace Corps.
McCabe was hired by Bowdoin to replace legendary coach Mort LaPointe in the summer of 1990 and, after the 2012 season, will have coached one more year than his predecessor. Over 21 seasons on the bench, McCabe has guided the Polar Bears to two ECAC championships, 10 NESCAC tournament appearances and the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament bid, and win, in 2008. Entering his final season, McCabe’s 215 victories are three shy of LaPointe for the most in program history; his win total ranks 11th among active Division 3 coaches and 16th all-time.
Coaches honored
The National Interscholastic Lacrosse Coaches Association, at its most recent coaches’ meeting, honored the following New England boys’ high school coaches for milestone wins: Stephen Connolly of North Andover (Mass.) High School was singled out for having reached his 400th career victory, while Shaun Stanton of St. Sebastian’s School (Needham, Mass.) earned victory No. 200, with former Cohasset (Mass.) coach Stew Curran having scored victory No. 100 at Thayer Academy (Braintree, Mass.) in 2011. …
Former University of Vermont assistant coach Nicole Moore has been named the head coach of the new women’s lacrosse program at Stetson University in Florida. The Hatters program will join the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2013. A native of Wilton, Maine, and a 2002 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Moore also has coached at Temple and Canisius. …
Brown University added former Johns Hopkins All-American Steven Boyle and former Centenary College head coach Michael Brand as assistant men’s lacrosse coaches for 2012. Boyle, a native of Derry, N.H., will work on offensive schemes and the development of the attackmen and offensive midfielders. …
Former Providence goalkeeper Ron Westgate has returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach. The Forestdale, Mass., native was a three-year captain for the Friars during his college career, which spanned 2003-6. …
Connecticut College added William Els to its men’s coaching staff for 2012 season. Els, a former New York City firefighter who most recently served as head coach at Lee (Mass.) High School and director of lacrosse at Greylock Sports Camp in Becket, Mass., will work with the Camel goaltenders. …
Regis College in Weston, Mass., added Bryant Amitrano, Mike Simone and Bill Graham to its men’s lacrosse coaching staff.
This article originally appeared in the January 2012 issue of New England Lacrosse Journal.
Have an item for Around the Region? Email it to editor@laxjournal.com
