Men's lacrosse is a popular game that is played throughout the United States at both the college and pro level. Teams usually play on a football field, though the lacrosse field is 110 yards long versus a football's 120 yards. In each end, there is 35 yards of defensive area and 20 yards of a neutral zone. Like most sports, the team with the most goals at the end of the game wins. Here are some of the basic rules of lacrosse to help provide a better understanding of the game.
Players
Lacrosse is played with 10 players: three attackmen, three midfielders, three defensemen and a goaltender. Every team must keep three players in the offensive half of the field and four in the defensive half of the field at all times. The three midfielders are permitted to go all over the field.
Timing
The timing of a lacrosse game varies, depending on the level of play. Youth games are 32 minutes long, comprised of four eight-minute quarters. High school games are 48 minutes long, comprised of four 12-minute quarters. College games last 60 minutes, and are comprised of four 15-minute quarters.
Checking
Body checking is permitted in lacrosse, but only under certain circumstances. Checking is legal if the opponent has control of the ball or if the opponent is within 5 yards of a loose ball. Any body checking must occur from the side or the front, below the shoulders and above the knees. Both hands must be on the stick when initiating a body check. Players are also allowed to stick check an opponent by slashing their stick with their own lacrosse stick. Once again, in order to initiate a stick check, the opponent must either have control of the ball or be within 5 yards of a loose ball.
Fouls
There are numerous fouls that can occur during gameplay. The two main types of fouls are personal and technical fouls. Personal fouls are slashing, tripping, cross checking, unsportsmanlike conduct, unnecessary roughness, illegal crosse, illegal body checking and illegal gloves. Slashing is when a player makes contact with an opponent's body with his own stick. Tripping is when a player hits an opponent below the waist with any piece of equipment or part of the body. Cross checking occurs when a player uses the handle of his stick to hit an opponent. Unsportsmanlike conduct occurs when a player commits an act that the official deems to be unsportsmanlike. This can include taunting, obscene language or arguing. Unnecessary roughness is when a player makes unnecessary contact with an opponent. Illegal crosse occurs when a player uses a lacrosse stick that is illegal, due to length, size or shape. Illegal body checking occurs when a player does not make contact the correct way, as stated in the "checking" section of this article. Illegal gloves occurs when a player uses gloves that are illegal, due to size, shape or condition of the gloves.
Technical fouls are holding, interference, offsides, pushing, screening, stalling and warding off. Holding is when a player grabs an opponent or their stick with a bare hand. Interference is when a player makes contact with an opponent who is more than five yards from the ball. Offsides is when a team has the incorrect number of players on a certain side of the field, as stated in the "players" section of this article. Pushing occurs when a player shoves an opponent from behind. Screening is when an offensive player makes contact with a defensive player when neither of them have the ball. Stalling occurs when a team deliberately runs the clock down. Warding off occurs when a player uses his arm or hand to prevent an opposing player from taking the ball.
Out of Bounds
When the ball goes out of bounds on one of the sidelines, possession of the ball is awarded to the opposing team. However, if the ball goes out of bounds due to a missed shot on goal, the ball is awarded to whichever player was closer to the ball when it went out of bounds.
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