Gait and Millon earn MLL's top honors
Published on August 20, 2005 under Major League Lacrosse (MLL) News Release
BOSTON, Mass. - Major League Lacrosse, the premier professional outdoor lacrosse league, announced Saturday that Baltimore Bayhawks attackman Gary Gait and Boston Cannons attackman Mark Millon have been named the 2005 Bud Light Season Most Valuable Players. The award was based on votes submitted by the General Manager and the Head Coach of each of the six Major League Lacrosse teams.
In order to be considered for the Bud Light Season MVP, a player must have been named Bud Light Game MVP during the regular season. Gait and Millon, along with other MLL honorees, were acknowledged on Saturday at the 2005 Major League Lacrosse Awards Luncheon.
Entering his fourth season as the Bayhawks' Player-Coach, Gait had his best season in an MLL uniform. He led the league in goals (42) and points (63) in helping the Bayhawks to a league-best 10-2 record and their fourth National Division championship in five years. Prior to this season, Gait's best year came last season when the former Syracuse University attackman scored 32 goals, including the first two-point tally of his MLL career, to go with 14 assists.
Gait was named Bud Light Game MVP five times during the regular season. In the Bayhawks' season-opening victory against New Jersey on May 28 in Seattle, Gait scored a game-high four goals in Baltimore's 21-12 win over the Pride. Three weeks later, Gait led the Bayhawks to an 18-11, come-from-behind victory over the Rochester Rattlers by scoring three goals with three assists. Eight days later, he earned the award for a six-goal, one-assist effort in a 22-13 win over the Rattlers at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium.
Against the Boston Cannons on July 16, Gait scored four goals to go with an assist to earn Game MVP honors as the Bayhawks improved to 8-0 with a 20-17 victory over the Cannons. Two weeks ago, Gait scored a game-high five goals with three assists in Baltimore's 19-9 win over the Philadelphia Barrage.
Millon helped the Cannons win their second consecutive American Division title after being traded to Boston from Baltimore in exchange for goalkeeper Trevor Tierney. The trade paid instant dividends for the Cannons, as Millon scored four goals with four assists in his Cannons debut against Philadelphia on May 29. It was the first of four games in which the former University of Massachusetts attackman earned Bud Light Game MVP honors during the regular season.
Two weeks later, Millon scored a game-high five goals with an assist in the Cannons' 16-14, come-from-behind win over Rochester at Bishop Kearney Field. Against the New Jersey Pride on June 25, Millon tallied five more goals with two assists in the Cannons' 19-14 win for their fifth straight win to open the season.
On July 31, Millon had the best offensive night in Major League Lacrosse history against his former team. He tied a league record with nine goals while setting a league mark with 14 points as the Cannons snapped Baltimore's nine-game win streak with a commanding 25-13 win over the Bayhawks. Millon scored five of those goals in the first half as Boston jumped out to a 12-7 lead at the intermission and never trailed from that point.
Millon ended the season with 56 points on 38 goals and 18 assists, ranking third in the league in points behind Gait and Rochester attackman Casey Powell. He became the first player in league history to score 200 career goals and register 300 career points with his 14-point outing against the Bayhawks and currently stands tied for first place with Powell on the league's all-time points list.
Bud Light has been the official beer sponsor of Major League Lacrosse since the league's inaugural season in 2001. Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch, Inc. is the leading U.S. brewer and holds a 50 percent share in Grupo Modelo, Mexico's leading brewer. In a survey of 10,000 business leaders and securities analysts, Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. ranked first overall in quality of products and services among nearly 600 companies researched in FORTUNE magazine's 2004 "America's Most Admired Companies" listing. The company also is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the world's largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or www.budlight.com.
Major League Lacrosse, a six-team professional outdoor lacrosse league, was founded in 1999 by fitness entrepreneur Jake Steinfeld, CEO of Body by Jake Global L.L.C., and partners Dave Morrow, a former champion lacrosse player and now CEO of Warrior Lacrosse, a leading global provider of innovative and high performance lacrosse equipment; and Timothy B. Robertson, former CEO of The Family Channel and the current chairman of Bay Shore Enterprises, L.L.C., an investment holding company with activities in international media and Internet technology ventures. The MLL commenced play in June of 2001 and has teams in Baltimore, Boston, Long Island, (Montclair) New Jersey, Philadelphia and Rochester. The 2005 MLL season began on Friday, May 20 and concludes with the New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend Friday, August 19 and Sunday, August 21 at Boston University's Nickerson Field. Additional league information can be found at www.majorleaguelacrosse.com.
Major League Lacrosse Stories from August 20, 2005
- All-MLL team recognizes 2005's best - MLL
- McClay honored for community service - MLL
- MLL tabs McCabe as Sportsman of the Year - MLL
- Merrill named MLL Rookie of the Year - MLL
- Chris Garrity named MLL Goalie of the Year - MLL
- Players of the Year, Coach of the Year announced - MLL
- Gait and Millon earn MLL's top honors - MLL
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
