Pittsburgh Bulls

Major Indoor Lacrosse League (1990-1993)

Tombstone

Born: September 13, 1989 – MILL expansion franchise
Folded: Postseason 1993

First Game: January 5, 1990 (W 14-11 vs. New England Blazers)
Last Game: March 21, 1993 (L 9-8 @ Philadelphia Wings)

MILL Championships: None

Arena

Pittsburgh Civic Arena
Opened: 1961
Demolished: 2011-2012

Marketing

Team Colors: Black & Gold

Ownership

Owners: Major Indoor Lacrosse League (Russ Cline & Chris Fritz)

Background

The Pittsburgh Bulls were the Steel City’s first introduction to the sport of box (indoor) lacrosse. The Bulls were part of the winter/spring Major Indoor Lacrosse League for four seasons during the early 1990’s.

The team debuted at the Civic Arena on January 5th, 1990 with a 14-11 victory over the New England Blazers before 9,213 fans.

The Bulls featured some outstanding individual players, including Canadian attacker Brian Nikula and former Johns Hopkins defenseman Dave Pietramala. Both players remained with the Bulls for all four season that the club was in operation. But Pittsburgh never put it all together as a team and endured four straight losing seasons under head coach Dennis Wey. The Bulls final season in 1993 was its worst, finishing at the bottom of the league standings with a 1-7 record. The team folded during the offseason that followed.

The MILL changed its name to the National Lacrosse League in 1997. The NLL is still active today and tried to return to Pittsburgh in the year 2000 with the formation of the Pittsburgh CrosseFire. The CrosseFire lasted only one season before moving away to Washington, D.C.