Having been relatively unused since the Women’s United Soccer Association’s Boston Breakers left last semester, Boston University’s Nickerson Field will soon have a new professional team sliding on its turf.
The Boston Cannons, Boston’s professional men’s lacrosse team, recently signed a three-year contract with BU to use the field as their home field, moving away from their current location in Lowell. BU officials declined to comment on the details of the deal because of contractual obligations.
Cannons midfielder Mike Battista said the move will be a “dream.”
“I think all the players are really excited about playing in Boston,” he said.
Cannons goalie Kevin O’Brien, who has been an assistant coach for the BU women’s lacrosse team for the past two years, said playing at Nickerson will be a great step forward for the team.
“The move will be excellent for a number of reasons,” he said. “The location is great, the turf is great, I love the extra seating, the university can enjoy us, businesses can enjoy it – it’s just a more professional field. I’m going to have a lot of fun here.”
Battista said playing in Boston attracts more fans and will allow their 4,000 loyal fans to travel shorter distances to see the games.
“More of a central location is exactly what we wanted,” he said. “Now you can go out before the game and eat dinner afterwards. Being more centrally located, we can get people from the North Shore. Also, BU is probably around 10 miles from my hometown. So now my whole family can get on the [Massachusetts Turnpike] and come to see me.”
Cannons Vice President David Gross said Cawley Stadium in Lowell, where the team has played for the past three years, was a great start for the Cannons but was not able to meet the needs of the team’s ever-growing fan base.
“Lowell was a great place, but we were averaging over 4,000 fans last season,” she said. “Playing at BU means we won’t outgrow the field too fast.”
Athletic Director Gary Strickler said bringing in a professional team will be good for the university as well.
“Having the name of Boston University attached to the Cannons is good for both of us,” he said.
Gross said the team has wanted to play at BU since the team formed three years ago, but the university had recently signed the Boston Breakers women’s soccer team.
“The team was formed three months before we had a stadium,” he said. “We wanted to play at BU, but the Breakers were here. Both of our teams were starting at the exact same time and supporting two new teams is hard for the university.”
Strickler said after the Breakers left Nickerson last September, the Cannons entered into a six-month discussion with BU to use the stadium.
“We wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be in conflict with any of our teams,” he said. “I think it will be a fairly low impact team. They won’t have any standing lockers and their games won’t interfere with any of our practices.”
BU women’s lacrosse head coach Liza Shoemaker said the she will miss the Breakers but welcomes the chance to host a professional lacrosse team.
“I was very disheartened with the fallout with the Breakers,” she said. “The bright side of it is having the Cannons come here.”
Shoemaker said the Cannons will be a good fit for BU, which often needs the field for student sports.
“The breakers were really a full-year-round team,” she said. “The Cannons aren’t even in here until the school year is over.”
Gross said the Cannons understand it is a university field before it is a professional stadium.
“We are delighted to share the university with the team,” he said. “By no means do we think we have run of the place. We agreed to never play a home game while school is in session. We do not want to be a burden.”
Gross said he is hoping to thank the university for welcoming the team by hosting a range of activates with BU students and community members.
“When we have the time, we would love to do stuff with students,” he said. “We will be giving discounted tickets to BU students and faculty. We would also love see the men’s lacrosse club become a team.”