Chesapeake Bayhawks

Franchise history

The Bayhawks played two seasons at Homewood Field on the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University (2001 and 2003) and played their home games during the 2002 season at Ravens Stadium now called M&T Bank Stadium in downtown Baltimore, currently the home of the Baltimore Ravens. They played their home games at Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University from 2004 to 2006. The Bayhawks won National Division championships in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005. They made the 2004 playoffs as a wild card.

The Bayhawks were the only Major League Lacrosse charter team to have a winning season in each of the first five years of the league.

Move to Washington, D.C.

There had been months of rumors about the Bayhawks moving from Baltimore, and a lot of the speculation centered on the team's moving to Washington, D.C. On November 3, 2006, Inside Lacrosse received an email entitled “Major League Lacrosse is coming to Washington D.C.” announcing a pre-season press conference at Nathan’s of Georgetown on November 14. In addition, the domain name washingtonbayhawks.com is registered with a contact name of Kerry Pucillo, Director of Corporate Operations for Major League Lacrosse. The e-mail contact for the domain was her e-mail address and the street address given for the domain registry is that of Major League Lacrosse’s headquarters. The domain was registered September 2006.

The MLL approved the move to Washington. The Bayhawks played their first home game of the 2007 season on May 12 at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia with the subsequent five home games at Georgetown University's Multi-Sport Field. George Mason Stadium served as the primary field for five home games during 2008 with one home game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

The Bayhawks subsequently reached a three-year deal to play all home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium through 2011.

Chesapeake Bayhawks

The Bayhawks are the MLL's second winningest franchise of the league. The franchise has won five MLL Championships and four division titles throughout their history in the league.

In 2001, the Bayhawks won the National Division crown, but fell short in the championship game to the Long Island Lizards. The following year, the Bayhawks repeated as National Division champion, and this time avenged their title game loss with their first MLL crown. In the MLL's third season, the Bayhawks continued their National Division dominance with their third straight title, but again came up just short in the MLL Championship against the Lizards. The Bayhawks made the playoffs in 2004 but were eliminated in the semifinals.

The 2005 Bayhawks squad is regarded as one of the greatest lacrosse teams ever assembled. Led by veterans such as Gary Gait and Tom Marechek, the Bayhawks dominated the MLL and set several scoring records throughout the year. The team capped the season with their fourth National Division title and their second MLL crown.

The 2006 season was a transition year for both the MLL and the Bayhawks. BT Lax Operating purchased the Bayhawks from the prior ownership group led by the Pivec family. The Bayhawks missed the playoffs for the first time in 2006. Following the season in November, the Bayhawks announced the team would be renamed the Washington Bayhawks and play in Washington, DC. The 2007 season found the team at Georgetown for their home games, and in 2008, the team called George Mason in Fairfax, VA their home. In 2009, the Bayhawks returned to Maryland, and signed an agreement with the US Naval Academy for their home games. The agreement lasts through the 2012 MLL season.

In March 2010, the Bayhawks announced the new ownership group: Hometown Lacrosse, LLC led by Bayhawks owner Brendan Kelly. The Bayhawks also announced that the team name would be changed to the Chesapeake Bayhawks to include all areas of the region from Northern Maryland to Virginia and Washington, DC to the Eastern Shore. The Bayhawks continued to play at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD. With Kelly’s leadership as head coach, the team finished the 2010 MLL season 6-6 and made their first trip to Championship Weekend since 2005. The team defeated the Boston Cannons 13-9 in the semifinals, and won the Steinfeld Trophy for the third time with another 13-9 victory, this time over their archrivals, the Long Island Lizards.

After a rollercoaster season in 2011, the Bayhawks were defeated by the Boston Cannons in a close match-up during the playoffs at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. In the off-season, the team made some major changes when Kelly stepped down as head coach and promoted Dave Cottle from assistant coach to head coach. Immediately after, Cottle brought in Tony Resch to serve as his defensive coordinator. In 2012 they recaptured the Steinfeld Trophy, defeating the Denver Outlaws 16-6 in the final.

The Bayhawks repeated as MLL champions in 2013, defeating the Charlotte Hounds 10-9 in the final.

After their third title in four years in 2013, the Bayhawks missed the playoffs in the three following seasons. It was the first time such a streak has occurred while playing in Annapolis, and the second time in franchise history. In the 2016 Major League Lacrosse season, seven teams finished tied atop the standings at 8-6, including the Bayhawks. Due to tiebreaker procedures, the Bayhawks were not one of the four teams that got to play in the Steinfeld Cup Playoffs.

Rivalry

The Bayhawks' biggest rival is arguably the New York Lizards. They faced each other in the first three Steinfeld Cup games, and between them they hold eight of the 16 league championships (Chesapeake has five and New York has three) thru the 2016 season.

Current coaching staff

Roster

MLL award winners