Boston, Mass. – Following an exciting final weekend of regular season play in Major League Lacrosse (MLL), the fourth and final team qualified for the 2009 New Balance MLL Championship Weekend and the pairings have now been determined. The Denver Outlaws (9-3), Toronto Nationals (7-5), Long Island Lizards (6-6), and Boston Cannons (6-6) will travel to Annapolis and take the field at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on August 22 and 23.

Denver was the fist team to secure a spot in the postseason and holds the # 1 overall seed due to their League leading 9-3 record. Boston and Toronto had also already qualified for the playoffs as well, but the final seedings could not be determined until the identity of the fourth and final team was known following the completion of Saturday's Long Island at Chicago game.

On Thursday, The Washington Bayhawks extended their playoff hopes into the weekend by mounting an impressive fourth quarter comeback and scoring the game winning goal with a mere 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation to defeat the Cannons by a final score of 14-13. However, their hopes would be dashed as Long Island held on to defeat the Chicago Machine by a final score of 13-11 in a close, back-and-forth game at Soldier Field.

Despite their identical 6-6 records, the Long Island Lizards gained the number #3 seed over the Boston Cannons by virtue of Long Islands' three wins over the Cannons this season.

The #1 seed Denver Outlaws will face the #4 seed Boston Cannons in Saturday's first semifinal at 12:00 PM ET. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2HD with Joe Beninati and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Saturday's second semifinal will begin at 3:00 PM ET and will feature the #2 seed Toronto Nationals versus the #3 seed Long Island Lizards.

The winners from Saturday's two semifinal matches will advance to the New Balance Championship Game at 1:00 PM ET on Sunday, August 23. The Championship Game will also be broadcast live on ESPN2HD.

The 2009 New Balance Major League Lacrosse Championship Weekend takes place at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, one of the nation's premier athletic venues. Tailgating is permitted for both Saturday and Sunday beginning 9:00 AM. A number of great attractions will be featured in the fan zone on both days, including the Monster Energy Professional Ninja Motorcycle Stunt Team, the Warrior Lacrosse-Monster Energy Chop Shop, musical performances by Canadian Alt-Rockers MOBILE, the US Lacrosse LAX SKILLZ Youth Skills Challenge, the Bud Light Lounge, and much more.

Tickets for the 2009 New Balance Championship Weekend are still available. Complete MLL Championship Weekend packages which include tickets to all three playoff games start at just $25 and may be purchased by calling 866-MLL-TIXX or by visiting www.mllchamps.com. Single day tickets will go on sale beginning Monday, August 17.

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Boston, Mass. – Major League Lacrosse has announced that the second semifinal game of this season's New Balance MLL Championship Weekend Presented by Smartlink will be shown in syndication live on Universal Sports. Universal Sports, a partnership between NBC Sports and InterMedia Partners, is the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic and lifestyle sports programming available in 56 million homes. The games take place August 22 and 23 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, MD. This is the first time that Major League Lacrosse has partnered with Universal Sports.

"We're excited to add this premier event to Universal Sports' programming lineup, and to promote the excitement of MLL competition to our wide audience," said Carlos Silva, President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal Sports. "We look forward to providing coverage to both our television and online audiences."

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2009-08-18