Former Major League Lacrosse MVP and faceoff crusader Greg Gurenlian is retiring from MLL after the 2017 season, he announced Thursday on Lax Sports Network.

Gurenlian, who founded The Faceoff Academy that has produced elite faceoff men like Trevor Baptiste (Denver) and Ben Williams (Syracuse), said in an LSN interview that he has not found as much enjoyment playing professional lacrosse in recent seasons.

“The weight of the world is on my shoulders when I play,” he said. “I basically have gone out for every faceoff the last two or three years thinking, ‘If I don’t win this, I’m letting my team down. My Faceoff Academy, no one’s going to come train with me anymore.’ I just want to focus on getting a ring and I want to actually have fun and take it all in.”

During his announcement @GregBeast32 tells LSN he hasn't enjoyed playing as much these last few years. pic.twitter.com/kq7NlLYQrl

— Lax Sports Network (@LaxSportsNet) February 16, 2017

Gurenlian clarified in a statement posted to Twitter that while he is retiring from MLL, he is not retiring from lacrosse altogether. After this MLL season, he plans to focus his training on qualifying for the 2018 U.S. national team. Gurenlian was a late addition to the 2014 team that lost to Canada in the FIL World Championship final in Denver. The quadrennial event returns to Manchester, England, in 2018.

“Last time around, I played injured, and international faceoffs are completely different mechanically, physically, strategically,” Gurenlian said in the statement. “I plan on giving all my attention to the tryout process and hopefully the tournament next year where I can help be the player that this team needs to take the gold.”

Gurenlian, a 2006 Penn State graduate entering his 12th MLL season, became the first faceoff specialist to earn league MVP honors in 2015. He set MLL single-season records for faceoff wins (280), winning percentage (73.1) and ground balls (175).