The New York Lizards, originally the Long Island Lizards, were a

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

(MLL) team based in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) in the U.S. state of New York. It occupies the southwestern part of the county, on ...

, located on Long Island. They are original members of the MLL. They lost the league's inaugural game on June 7, 2001 to the Baltimore Bayhawks (now

Chesapeake Bayhawks The Chesapeake Bayhawks were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Annapolis, Maryland since 2010. They played in the greater Baltimore metro area beginning with the MLL's inaugural 2001 season, as the Balti ...

), 16–13.

History

In the MLL's inaugural season in 2001, the Long Island Lizards split their home games between Hofstra Stadium, now James M. Shuart Stadium, and EAB Park (now Bethpage Ballpark). For the 2002 season, they used Hofstra Stadium as their home field. As of 2003, the Lizards played all home contests at Mitchel Athletic Complex, in Uniondale, New York until 2008. The team returned to James M. Shuart Stadium for their home games in 2009. The Lizards have won American Division championships in 2001, 2002, and 2003, and Major League Lacrosse titles in 2001, 2003 and 2015. The team made the playoffs in 2005 as a wildcard despite a losing record. The team's name and logo are based on the Italian wall lizard, a small reptile that was imported to Long Island (which has no native lizards) in the 1960s and which populate areas of the team's hometown of Hempstead in Nassau County. On December 14, 2012, the Lizards changed their name to the New York Lizards. Prior to the 2015 season, the Lizards made a trade with the Boston Cannons for Paul Rabil. In exchange for Paul Rabil and Mike Stone, the Cannons received Max Seibald, Brian Karalunas and three draft picks. That season, the Lizards won their third Steinfeld Cup and first in 12 years by defeating their instate rival Rochester Rattlers 15–12. The Lizards won the game at Fifth Third Bank Stadium in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

before a Steinfeld Cup-record 8,674 fans. Prior to the 2019 season, Rabil and his brother Michael formed the

Premier Lacrosse League Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is an American professional field lacrosse league, composed of 8 teams. The league's inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major-market cities. The le ...

, which would compete directly with Major League Lacrosse. With the launch of the PLL, 140 players from Major League Lacrosse migrated to the upstart league. In the Lizards' first season after the pro lacrosse landscape changed vastly, they lost a franchise worst 11 games in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, and posted their second-worst winning percentage (.313). After two MLL teams and one went on a hiatus (Charlotte), New York finished last out of six teams that season. After Rob Pannell finished out his contract that season, he too bolted for the PLL. So in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, a season shorted and compacted into a week-long, quarantined tournament thanks to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the Lizards joined the 2006 Chicago Machine as the only two teams in league history to post a winless season; albeit the 2020 Lizards' 0–5 record was not as bad as the Machine's 0–12 season. Additionally, the Lizards led in all five games and only finished with a -8 goal differential (-11 score differential).

Rivalry

Chesapeake Bayhawks The Lizards' main rival were the

. Between them, they hold 8 of the 15 MLL league championships awarded through the 2015 season. The two teams have played in the championship game five times, with Chesapeake winning 3 of those 5. Boston Cannons The Lizards have found a new rival in the Boston Cannons after they traded their All Star Mid Fielder Paul Rabil to New York in January 2015. That season the Lizards faced the Cannons in the MLL semi-finals and the game resulted in a dramatic overtime victory for the Lizards(16-15). The tension of that game continued into the 2016 MLL season when the Cannons came to James M. Shuart Stadium, which resulted in another intense over-time victory for the Lizards(13-12).

General managers

* Joe Spallina was the head coach and general manager of the New York Lizards.

Coaching staff

Current coaching staff

* Head coach – BJ O'Hara * Assistant coach – Ted Garber * Assistant coach – Mike Gongas

All-time head coaches

Current roster

(C)- captain *

MLL Award winners

Most Valuable Player * Jay Jalbert: 2003 * Greg Gurenlian: 2015 * Rob Pannell:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Rookie of the Year *

Matt Gibson Matt Gibson (born 7 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional snooker player. Career Gibson was runner-up to Tony Knowles in the 1972 British Junior Championship, and defeated Ronnie Millar to win the 1980 Scottish Amateur Championship. He ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

* Rob Pannell:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

* John DeTommaso: 2001 * Jim Mule: 2010 * Joe Spallina:

Offensive Player of the Year * Rob Pannell:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Defensive Player of the Year * Nicky Polanco: 2005 * Joe Fletcher: 2015 Goalie of the Year *

Brian Dougherty Brian "Doc" Dougherty (born December 10, 1973) is a retired Hall of Fame American lacrosse goaltender. He attended The Episcopal Academy before attending University of Maryland. He is currently the head coach at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. ...

: 2003 *

Drew Adams Drew Adams (born August 19, 1986 in Springfield, Pennsylvania) is a former professional lacrosse player who played for the Archers Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League and the Long Island/New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse. Adams p ...

: 2010, 2011, 2015 Most Improved Player *

Stephen Peyser Stephen Peyser (born July 28, 1986 in Lloyd Harbor, New York) is an American professional lacrosse player with the Long Island Lizards of Major League Lacrosse. Peyser also played with the Orlando Titans and New York Titans of the National Lacro ...

: 2011

Retired numbers

* 2 –

Greg Cattrano Greg "The Cat" Cattrano (born August 6, 1975) is a retired lacrosse goaltender, who is recognized as one of the most successful and accomplished goaltenders in the history of the sport. High school career Cattrano played for Ward Melville High ...

* 9 – Tim Goettlemann * 10 – Jay Jalbert * 29 – Pat McCabe * 21 – Brodie Thoms

Season-by-season

* August 17 game against Baltimore canceled due to rain * 2001 Long Island Lizards season * 2002 Long Island Lizards season * 2003 Long Island Lizards season * 2004 Long Island Lizards season *

2005 Long Island Lizards season 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

* 2006 Long Island Lizards season * 2007 Long Island Lizards season * 2008 Long Island Lizards season *

2009 Long Island Lizards season 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the Brahmi numerals, beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshat ...

* 2010 Long Island Lizards season *

2011 Long Island Lizards season Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''E ...

* 2012 Long Island Lizards season * 2013 New York Lizards Season *

2017 New York Lizards season The 2017 New York Lizards season was the seventeenth season for the New York Lizards, a charter franchise of Major League Lacrosse. It is also their fifth season using the New York moniker. The team came in trying to improve upon their 8–6 reco ...

2018 New York Lizards season The 2018 New York Lizards season was the eighteenth season for the New York Lizards of Major League Lacrosse. The Lizards came off a down season in 2017, where they finished 7-7 and missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. In 2018, ...

* 2019 New York Lizards season

MLL Collegiate Draft history

First Round Selections

* 2001: Eric Wedin, Johns Hopkins (4th overall) * 2002: None * 2003: None * 2004: None * 2005: None * 2006: None * 2007: Matt McMonagle, Cornell (10th overall) *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: None * 2009: Zack Greer, Bryant (3rd overall) * 2010: Peter McKee,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

(4th overall) * 2011: Zach Brenneman, Notre Dame (5th overall) *

: Rob Pannell, Cornell (1st overall) *

: None *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: Joe Fletcher, Loyola (3rd overall); Luke Duprey,

(4th overall) * 2015: None *

: None *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

: None *

: Joel Tinney, Johns Hopkins (5th overall) * 2019: None

References

{{New York Sports Lacrosse clubs established in 2001 2001 establishments in New York (state) 2020 disestablishments in New York (state) Lacrosse teams in New York (state) Sports teams in New York City