The idea is simple. Create a field lacrosse fantasy team using only movie characters. The catch is there aren't many movies with lacrosse, short of Crooked Arrows and American Pie. That's why I used a variety of sports movies to figure out what my dream lacrosse team would be with only characters. Take a look.

Attack - Adam Banks (Mighty Ducks)

Banksy's a scorer and a playmaker. He's the gem of the Ducks offense, no matter what Charlie Conway thinks he can do. Heck, Banks made the varsity Warriors squad as a freshman in D3: The Mighty Ducks. He's at a prep school that probably has a decent lacrosse team. I'd imagine Banks as a guy that would be a great finisher, regardless of the sport. He's definitely tearing up for my fantasy team's offense, probably lining up at X.

Attack - Rod Tidwell (Jerry Maguire)

Show me the money!....or at least goals! Tidwell's a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals that's not afraid to get hit to make a play for the team. That works out perfectly for where I want him: crease attack. We're going to have Banks feeding inside to Tidwell all day and he'll make the catch and finish without worrying about the consequence of a crease defender slashing him. 

Attack - Alex Cook (Crooked Arrows)

We wouldn't have a true attack unit without at least one of the Crooked Arrows. If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil it for you. But, I do recommend seeing it at some point. Cook's a sniper. He's a perfect third piece to this offensive unit. Cook can take feeds and bury them, run the X, and even finish from in close. 

Offensive Middie - Chris "Oz" Ostreicher (American Pie)

He's a do-it-all guy. Oz can take the ball in transition and get it to the attack or he can dodge and score. I'm a big fan of the dodging middie and Oz showed that he can do that in the brief lacrosse clips of American Pie. Really, the only forseeable problem we have with him is his commitment to the sport. If he walks out during the middle of a big game, we're going to have issues.

Face-off Man - Steve Stifler (American Pie)

It's not really clear what Stifler does on the lacrosse team in the movie, but he's got to be my FOGO. He's a light-hearted guy that won't get too upset if he's losing draws and has good enough ball skills to make feeds or even score after winning face-offs. Stifler's got that party mindset, which could be detrimental to the team, but he's definitely a great player.

Longstick Middie - Bodhi (Point Break)

Just look at the guy (he's on the right). He's big, he's a bro, he's got flow. What's not to love? Bodhi shows off his athleticism when shredding the gnar or tossing a football around. Plus, he's not afraid to go into dangerous areas (see the last scene of the movie), which will make him a ground ball vaccuum for my fantasy team. He's also got the size, making him a complete package for LSM.

Defense - Ricky (Trailer Park Boys) 

This is probably the weak spot of my team. Being from Nova Scotia, Ricky's more of a box background than field lacrosse guy. He's shown he's a good ball hockey goalie throughout the show and movies, but we need to move him out to defense. Ricky's big and capable of getting in guys faces, plus a great trash-talker. I think he's got potential to be a star.

Defense - Fulton Reed (Mighty Ducks)

The original 'Bash Brother' only had a problem with skating in hockey. Well, without that drawback to lacrosse, Reed can run around crushing people. I don't see any issues to putting him on star scorers. Reed's going to smash them, take the ball, and be willing to take shots at the other end. He'll only hit the net one out of five times, though.

Defense - Chief Bromden (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)

Chief is the ultimate crease defender. He's got superhero strength and basketball center size. When he threw the sink through the window at the end of the book/movie, he showed determination, so he won't quit late in games. Chief's an intimidator. We're putting him on the crease to shut down and demolish the other team's best scorers.

Goalie - Louie Lastik (Remember the Titans)

This is a move that makes sense. A lineman in football, Lastik said he just wants to hit people. He'll be an aggressive goalie, running out of the cage to take out as many attackmen as he can. Lastik has unreal size and will take up most of the cage, while still being athletic enough to stop snipes and shots headed for the corner. He's a good leader on defense and studies hard to know the other team.

It's less than a month until the start of the All-American box lacrosse league .

The Professional Lacrosse League (PLL) opens on September 14th, with the Reading Rockets facing off against home team New Jersey Rascals. These two teams, along with the Charlotte Copperheads and the Jacksonville Bullies, make up the PLL-- the latest US response to the National Lacrosse League.

"Our expectations for year one were to have four teams, to play in four arena venues, and to create stability in the league," said PLL Commissioner Brett Vickers. "And I think we've accomplished that."

Season one will conclude at the end of November, with a total of 24 games played. Each team will play six at home, six on the road. The concept for the playoffs haven't been finalized yet, according to the commissioner.

So what happens after the first season? Two additional teams in Pennsylvania are already on board for 2013, and Vickers is looking to add more. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida are all possible sites for future development.

The idea is to create three regional divisions, each division consisting of four teams within a 200 to 300-mile radius.

"That would give us a 12 team league in three years, where the majority of the teams wouldn't have to get on a plane and go fly to play their games, they could bus to the other arenas."

Bussing to events is not only better for a team's budget, it also makes travel games accessible for fans and helps foster regional rivalries.

Having teams in a close proximity would be nice, but it's not necessary.

"If somebody came along and said, 'I want to put a team in Chicago or Dallas or Texas,' that wouldn't be a problem," said Vickers. "We would figure it out, and that's the way you build a league."

With that philosophy, expect big expansion within the PLL in the upcoming years.

Peterborough struggled early in Game 1, but was able to stay alive thanks to some shutdown goal tending by Tyler Carlson. Now it takes a 1-0 lead back home for game two. What needs to happen to keep the train rolling? Once again, it starts in the net.

Peterborough

Lights Out Play in the Net- We've talked a lot of how prolific Peterborough's offense is, but then it was shutout in the first period of Game 1. It was Tyler Carlson's play in net in those situations that kept them in it until the attack got going. In game two it needs to be more of the same. Six Nations are a defensive team, so if 'Boro can match that and still put up offense, it'll take a 2-0 in this series.

Six Nations

Finally Breakout Offensivley- Six Nations haven't been great on attack this postseason, then again it hasn't had to be...until now. The Chiefs have hit double-digits just twice this postseason, but that won't cut it against a team like the Lakers. They have tallied at least ten in all eight playoff games. Six Nations need find way to get more goals to even this series.

Finally, it's game day in the WLA. It's been a few days since the Adanacs beat the Shamrocks and a lot of days since the Thunder swept the Lakers. Now, we're all set for the finals. Langley gets its regular season championship trophy tonight and looks to gain the edge in the championship series. Here's what both the Thunder and Adanacs must do for a win.

#1 Langley Thunder

Contain Dane Dobbie - Dobbie's averaging almost five points a game in the postseason and carrying a Coquitlam offense that's putting up less than ten goals a game. He's the do-it-all guy for the A's. Langley's Brett Mydske, who won WLA defensive player of the year, can help contain Dobbie, Coquitlam's offense will struggle to break six goals.

#3 Coquitlam Adanacs

Keep the Pressure Off Nick Rose - The league MVP almost single-handedly brought the Adanacs to the finals. He faced 49 shots or more in five of the six games against Victoria. Lewis Ratcliff is one of the hottest scorers in the league right now after putting up 21 points in Langley's sweep of Burnaby. If the A's let Ratcliff, Garrett Billings, Athan Iannucci, and Shayne Jackson go free, they can beat Rose and win the series in a hurry.

Tonight's game starts at 7:45 pm PT in Langley Events Centre. 

The full schedule for the Major Series Lacrosse final series hadn't been officially released when #3 Peterborough beat #2 Six Nations in game one. It's finally been posted. Take a look.

Sun. August 19 (tonight) - 7:00 pm ET - Game Two - Six Nations at Peterborough

Tue. August 21 - 8:00 pm ET - Game Three - Peterborough at Six Nations

Thu. August 23 - 8:00 pm ET - Game Four - Six Nations at Peterborough

Sat. August 25 - 7:00 pm ET - Game Five - Peterborough at Six Nations (if necessary)

Wed. August 29 - 8:00 pm ET - Game Six - Six Nations at Peterborough (if necessary)

Thu. August 30 - 8:00 pm ET - Game Seven - Peterborough at Six Nations (if necessary)

For the first installment of our segment looking back at the regular sesaon for the four teams that missed out on MLL Championship Weekend, we look at the Hounds.

Final Record: 5-9

Leading Scorer: Matt Danowski (19 goals -- five two-pointers, 19 assists, 43 points)

Team MVP (picked by us): Adam Ghitelman. MLL-high 55.1% save percentage helped save the Hounds in a few games.

Moment to Remember: Upsetting the team with the best record in the league (at the time), Chesapeake for the third win in franchise history. Danowski hit a two-point goal in the final minute to give the Hounds a 13-12 win in front of the home faithful.

Moment to Forget: Losing 21-7 to Denver. It snapped Charlotte's first franchise winning streak and started a two-week span of futility. The Hounds trailed 13-1 in the waning minutes of the first half and were dominated at the face-off X, going 7-31. 

What to Expect in 2013: Big things. Charlotte struggled with face-offs all season until veteran FOGO Geoff Snider debuted at the end of the year and went 18-28. He should give the offense with stellar scorers like Danowski, Billy Bitter, Jovan Miller, Kevin Kaminski, and Stephen Berger more possessions and create more goals. 

Plus, all-star goalie Adam Ghitelman won't face as many shots. If Snider is the long-term solution Coach Kevin Cerino said he will be, Charlotte should be a playoff contender next year.

It's the championship series in the MSL, so a lot of pressure is on these players to punch their ticket to the Mann Cup. These are the games where guys either blossom or wither under the pressure. Since we like to focus on the positive here at LTW, let's take a look at who's shining.

Tyler Carlson (Lakers) - Peterborough gets a lot of credit for its attack, but Carlson's shut down the opposition this postseason. He's allowed a team to hit double-digits just once this postseason. If he can keep Six Nations down just enough for his offense to have success, it'll be a quick championship series.

Shawn Evans (Lakers) - The Peterborough star has certainly showed up this postseason. He lead all playoff scorers in points. He's been consistent, too, with almost five points-per-game. He's been the leader of the Lakers prolific attack.

Brandon Miller (Chiefs) - I know he allowed ten goals to Peterborough in game one, but give the guy a break. Ten goals is actually a postseason-low for the Lakers, not to mention he's still only allowing 6.09 goals-per-game. It's not his fault his offense didn't show up. 

Looking back at the regular season, it was a really entertaining summer in the MLL. The playoff situation went down the wire, two new expansion teams competed in their first year, and plenty of records went down. I picked out the best, worst, and flat-out awful aspects of the season in the MLL regular season edition of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good - Denver's Offense

All hail Denver's offense, which led the league with 216 goals on the season. It played the first half of the season without a great face-off man, which it makes the achievement even more impressive. Once the Outlaws got a good FOGO in Anthony Kelly, they averaged 18 goals a game. Yes, that's right. Denver averaged more points per game than most NFL football teams are this preseason.

The Bad - Charlotte's Face-off Struggles

It almost became a weekly challenge to find something besides the Hounds issues at the X for the "Ugly" part of our Good/Bad/Ugly posts. Finally, Jerry Ragonese cushioned the blows before Geoff Snider played in the regular season finale and righted the ship. Including Snider's 18-28 against Rochester, Charlotte still finished last in the league and the only team with a sub-40% face-off percentage. 

The Hounds used nine different face-off men and finished at 36.4%. That was the Achilles Heel of this team. 

The Ugly - Casey Powell's Final Year

This was no way for the best player in the league's history to go out. After injuring his knee in the Championship Game in 2011, Powell only played three games and scored six points before he went out in a classless way. He slashed Chesapeake's Michael Evans in the head and was suspended by the league.

Powell then played in a Lake Placid tournament earlier this month and told Inside Lacrosse the MLL suspended him for the remainder of this season. He announced his retirement earlier this week. This was anything but a fitting ending for Powell's MLL career.