Harvard Stadium Plays Host To Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game

Pictured: Partial crowd view of the Harvard-Duke lacrosse game at Harvard Stadium in the spring of 2010 (Gil Talbot)

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard University played host to another premier event this week as it hosted the 2010 Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game at Harvard Stadium. The MLL starts faced off against Team USA in front of a Boston Cannons record crowd of 11,771 as the USA won the contest, 13-12.

The game was televised on ESPN2 and served as the final warm-up for Team USA before heading to England to play in the 2010 FIL World Championships.

Hosting prominent sporting events has become an increasingly big part of the picture for Harvard, which boasts the nation’s largest intercollegiate athletic department with 41 sports including a vast offering of club and intramural activities.

Also this week, Harvard is hosting the ESPN Rise Warrior 40 at the Stadium with 42 of the best rising high school senior lacrosse players in the nation on display.

This past spring, Harvard Stadium played host an announced crowd of 13,285 fans for the Harvard-Duke game. In 2008 and 2009, Harvard hosted the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium with a tournament-record crowd of 145,828 filling the stadium in 2008. That season, another record crowd was hosted by Harvard as 48,970 fans attended the Division I final between John’s Hopkins and Syracuse. The crowd was the largest to see an NCAA championship outdoors in any sport.

In 2006, Harvard hosted a sold out NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Four at the TD Banknorth Garden and this winter, played host to the NCAA Fencing Championships.

Harvard will again host the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium in 2012 and in 2011, will host two of the tournament’s quarterfinal games at Gillette.