The 2001 Major League Lacrosse season was the inaugural season of the new semi-professional men's field lacrosse league. The league began play with six founding teams: Baltimore Bayhawks, Boston Cannons, Bridgeport Barrage, Long Island Lizards, New Jersey Pride and Rochester Rattlers. Each team played a 14-game regular season schedule that ended with a championship game on September 3, 2001.

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Major League Lacrosse (MLL) played its first game on June 7 when Baltimore defeated Long Island 16–13 score at Homewood Field in Baltimore. Baltimore's Chris Turner scored the first goal in MLL regular season history. Those same two teams met in the Steinfeld Cup, the championship trophy named for co-founder Jake Steinfeld, with the Lizards turning the tables and beating the Bayhawks 15–11.

Boston beat Bridgeport in 3 of 4 regular season games, Rochester beat New Jersey in 3 of 4 regular season games.

The inaugural Major League Lacrosse All-Star Game was hosted by the Bridgeport Barrage at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Connecticut on August 2, 2001.^[1] The National division team beat the American division 24–18. Mark Millon was the game's MVP.

The top two teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The 1st place team from one division would play the 2nd place team from the other division in the semifinals. All games were played at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

The format resulted in Boston (3–11) making the playoffs while New Jersey (8–6) did not. The format was changed the following season, so the two division winners and the next two best teams regardless of division made the playoffs.

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