Field and Equipment
The lacrosse field is 110 yards long and 60 to 70 yards wide. The goals, 80 yards apart, are nets with mouths 6 feet high and 6 feet wide. The center of each goal mouth is the center of a circle with a 9-foot radius, called the goal crease. The field is divided into halves by the offside line, at the center of which is the facing circle, which has a 10-foot radius.
Near each end of the field there is a line, 6 feet long, that is 20 yards from the goal; the goal area is the area between this line and the nearest end line. On each side of the field there is a line, 20 yards long, that is 20 yards from the center of the field and parallel with the sideline; the area between one of these lines and the nearest sideline is called the wing area.
The lacrosse ball is made of hard sponge rubber; it is 5 to 5 1/4 ounces in weight and has a circumference of at least 7 3/4 inches. When dropped from a height of 72 inches onto a hardwood floor, it should bounce at least 45 inches and no more than 49 inches.
The stick, or crosse, must be no more than 6 feet and no less than 3 feet long, no more than 12 inches and no less than 7 inches wide across the face (the area of meshwork making up the stick's head).
The handle is made of bent hickory, The head (net or face) is made of leather, cord, or gut, bounded on either side by a wall; on a right-handed stick, the right wall is of wood, the left wall usually of gut, though both walls may be of wood. Generally, the closer a player is stationed to the team's own goal, the larger is the stick used by the player. The goalkeeper uses the largest stick of all, usually near maximum size.
Progress of Play
There are 10 players on each team. Three are defensemen (point, cover point, and first defense, in old terminology); three are midfielders (second defense, center, and center attack); three are attackers (first attack, out home, and in home). The three attackers must always be on the side of the center line nearest the opposition goal; the three defensemen and the goalkeeper must always be on the side of the center line nearest their own goal.
When the game begins, there must be one midfielder in each wing area; an attacker in the attack goal area; and a defenseman and the goalie in the defense goal area. The game begins with a face-off: The centers place the backs of their stick nets together in the facing circle; the referee puts the ball between the two nets, touching both of them, and blows a whistle to start play. The centers then struggle to get possession of the ball. (A face-off is also used to resume play at the beginning of each succeeding quarter and after a goal.)
The object of the game is to score goals by getting the ball into the other team's goal. The ball may be carried, thrown, or batted with the stick, or kicked; it may never be touched by hand, except by a goalkeeper attempting to prevent the other team from scoring.
A game is made up of four 15-minute quarters, with 1-minute intermissions between the first and second and third and fourth periods, and a 10-minute intermission at halftime. If a game is tied at the end of the regulation 60 minutes, two 5-minute overtime periods are played. If the score is still tied, at that point, the game is declared a tie.
Fouls and Penalties
A player is not allowed to interfere with an opponent's progress unless the opponent has the ball, is about to catch the ball, or is within 5 yards of a loose ball.
If an attack player crosses midfield into the defensive zone, or if a defenseman or goalie crosses midfield into the attack zone, it is an offside.
There are two types of fouls, technical and personal. Technical fouls include illegal interference, offside, entering the opposition's crease, and touching the ball with the hand. The penalty is loss of ball (a free throw for the other team) or banishment of the offending player from the game, without a substitute, for 30 seconds. Personal fouls include tripping, pushing, slashing, and unnecessary roughness. The penalty is banishment for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the severity of the foul.
A player who has been banished for a technical foul can return to the game when the other team scores a goal, even if time remains on the penalty. A player must serve the entire time for a personal foul, however.
A disqualification foul, involving flagrantly unsporting conduct or unnecessary roughness, results in the player's being ejected from the game; a substitute can replace the departed player 5 minutes after the ejection.
Out of Bounds
If the ball goes out of bounds, the team that last touched it loses possession, with one exception: If the ball goes over the end line as the result of a shot on goal, it is awarded to the player, of either team, nearest it when it went out.
In either case the ball is put in play with a free throw from the spot where the ball went out or, if the spot is within 20 yards of the crease, from the 20-yard line. If players from opposing teams are equidistant from the ball when it goes over the end line, they face off at the 20-yard line. On a free throw, all other players must be at least 5 yards from the player making the throw.
Women's Lacrosse
The women's version of lacrosse is played on a field without specific boundaries, with goals 90 to 110 yards apart. The referee decides when the ball is out of bounds, usually on the basis of certain natural boundaries agreed upon beforehand.
There are 12 players on a team; a game is made up of two 25-minute periods with a 10-minute intermission and there is no provision for overtime.
The face-off is replaced by a draw. The two centers stand with sticks held about hip-high, and the ball is placed between the sticks. At an order from the referee, the two players draw their sticks up and away, attempting to bring the ball away and thus gain possession of it.
Body contact is forbidden, unless purely incidental, and the referee may call a foul for any action considered dangerous. The penalty is "free position." When the whistle blows, signaling a foul, all players must stop where they are, and the fouled player is given the ball and told where she may stand. Any player within 5 yards of her must move farther away. The fouled player may then pass, run, or shoot.
