"Lax 101"

About the Game 

  • The Field: The lacrosse field is 110 yards long and 60 yards wide. Goals are 80 yards apart with 15 yards of playing area behind each goal. Boundaries are marked by white lines.
  • The Goal: The goal is six feet square and sits in a 9-foot radius circle. This area is known as the crease.
     
  • The Game: The game is 48 minutes long divided into 12 minute quarters. Teams change goals after each quarter. There is a 10 minute break at halftime and two minutes in between quarters. In case of a tie at the end of regulation play there is sudden death overtime.
     
  • The Players: Each time has ten players on the field, divided as follows: three attackmen, three midfielders, three defensemen, and one goaltender. Each team must have three players on the offensive end of the field and four players on the defense half of the field at all times or an off-sides results.
     
  • Equipment: The principal piece of equipment is the lacrosse stick. The ball is smaller and heavier than a baseball and is made of white India rubber. Headgear, with faceguard and mouthguard, is mandatory for all players. Shoulderpads, gloves and armguards are also required. Goaltenders also use a chin and chest protector. Goaltenders are not required to wear arm guards or shoulderpads.
     
  • Penalties: There are three types of fouls: technical, personal, and expulsion. Technical fouls are those of a less serious nature such as interference, illegal screening, holding, warding off, pushing, withholding the ball from play, offside, crease violation, and pushing.
    1. A technical foul results in loss of the ball or a 30-second penalty if the other team is in possession of the ball. Personal fouls are those of a more serious nature such as illegal body checking, slashing, crosse-checking, tripping, unnecessary roughness, unsportsmanlike conduct, and use of an illegal stick or illegal gloves.
    2. A personal foul results in loss of the ball and either a one, two or three-minute penalty depending on the severity and intention of the foul.
    3. An expulsion foul is the striking of anyone connected with the game. The penalty shall be suspension from the rest of the game and a three-minute penalty to be served by a substitute. The suspended player is also suspended from the next contest. If a team is playing in a man-down situation, the penalized player is allowed to return to the game when the opponents score a goal unless the referee has called a non-releasable foul.
       
  • Object of the Game: Each team scores by causing the ball to enter the opponent's goal while preventing the other team from doing the same. The ball may not be touched with the hands, except by the goaltender when in the crease. The ball is kept in play be being carried, thrown, or batted with the stick. If the ball is carried, or thrown out of bounds, the ball goes to the other team at that point. The exception is a shot at the goal, the ball goes to the player nearest the ball when it went out of bounds. This rule is designed to not to unduly penalize a team for trying to score.
     
  • Rides and Clears: When the defensive team regains possession of the ball in its own end, it will attempt to return to the offensive end of the field. If the defense successfully move the ball into the offensive zone, they are credited with a clear. If the defense does not successfully complete a clear, the other team is credited with a ride. Each time the defense attempts to return the ball to the offensive zone, either a clear or ride is credited.
     
  • Face-off: After most goals and at the beginning of most periods, play is resumed with a face off. The players facing shall stand on the same side of the centerline as the goal each is defending, with their sticks resting on the ground alone the center line. Each must have both hands on their stick. Neither player nor his stick can be in contact with the opponent or his stick. The walls of the stick must be far enough apart so that the ball can be placed between them on the ground. When the official sounds his whistle to start play, each player may attempt to direct the course of the ball by a movement of his stick in any manner he desires.