Lacrosse rule reference
NCAA men (Div. I-III) lacrosse rules
RuleCrosse checks your diagram against 16 positional rules from this book and shows the rule behind each verdict. Lay out any set, restart or draw on the free board and see, under this book, whether it is legal.
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RuleCrosse is a coaching aid, not an official ruling. Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, NFHS or NCAA.
Positional rules we check
- Every player stands inside the boundary lines when play starts or restarts.
Rule 4-7 (out of bounds), 1-2 - A team has at most 10 players (7 in youth 7v7), counting players serving time in the penalty area.
Rule 1-1, 2-1 - Exactly one designated, properly equipped goalkeeper is on the field.
Rule 2-1 A.R. 3, 1-17 - No more than four long crosses (52-72 in) on the field, not counting the goalkeeper's (three in youth 7v7).
Rule 2-1 - Offside: no more than 6 players in the offensive half (4 in youth 7v7), counting players in the penalty area.
Rule 4-12-a, 4-7-c-3 - Offside: no more than 7 players in the defensive half (5 in youth 7v7), counting players in the penalty area.
Rule 4-12-b - No attacking player may be in (touch) the opponent's goal crease while the ball is live.
Rule 1-4, 4-21-b - Exactly one player per team is in face-off position at the centre spot, entirely on his own defensive side of the centre line (hands and feet to the left of the throat of the crosse).
Rule 4-3-b-5 - Face-off players start standing: no knee on the ground before the whistle (youth 10U and 7v7 may kneel).
Rule 4-3-b-1, 4-3-b-5 (knee and moto grip removed from 2020-21, NCAA.org S36) - At a full-strength face-off the goalkeeper and exactly three other players are behind the team's own defensive-area (restraining) line.
Rule 4-5 - At a full-strength face-off exactly three players are behind the offensive restraining line.
Rule 4-5 - At a full-strength face-off exactly one player stands in each wing area (between the wing line and the sideline).
Rule 1-8, 4-5 - In any penalty situation at a face-off a team keeps four players (goalkeeper included) in its defensive area and three in its offensive area; with three in the box, a defender may come out to take the face-off.
Rule 4-4-c, 4-5 - On any restart no teammate of the player awarded the ball may be within 5 yards (4.6 m) of him. Opponents inside 5 yards may stay but may not defend until they are 5 yards away.
Rule 4-8 - When the offence is awarded the ball in its attack area without a time-serving penalty, or the defence fouls there, the restart is moved outside the attack area (WL: no free play closer than 18 m to the goal, except end-line out of bounds).
Rule 4-8 (exception), 4-8-d - A restart is never taken within 5 yards (WL 4.6 m) of the substitution area / gate; the ball is moved into the field.
Rule 4-8-a, A.R. 33
Judgement calls the board does not check
- Movement before the whistle at a face-off or draw ("set"/"ready", motionless)
- Early release from the wing areas or across restraining lines before possession / "free ball"
- Face-off technique: kicking through, carrying the ball on the back of the crosse, withholding, hands on the ball
- Illegal draw: ball not rising above the heads, drawing too soon, not drawing upward
- Shot clock / possession clock (NCAA men 80/60 s, NCAA women 90 s, NFHS boys optional 70 s from 2027, NFHS girls optional 90 s from 2027)
- Clearing counts and over-and-back (NCAA: ball over midline by 60 s on the shot clock; NFHS 2027: 20 s anywhere)
- Crease counts (goalkeeper/defender 4 s men NCAA, 5 s WL; women 10 s NCAA, 5 s WL)
- Three seconds in the 8-m arc (women)
Key terms
- Long pole
- Men's crosse 52-72 in long, used by close defenders and the long-stick midfielder; at most four on the field.
- Centre line (midline)
- Line across the middle of the field; for men it splits the offensive and defensive halves used for offside.
- Wing line / wing area
- Men: lines 20 yd (WL 18 m) from the centre, 10 yd each side of the centre line; the wing area is between them and the sideline.
- Goal crease
- Men: circle of 9-ft radius (WL 3 m) around the goal; attackers may not enter it.
- Substitution area / gate
- Area in front of the table where players enter and exit (NCAA men 10 yd wide; NFHS table area 20 yd; WL gate 13 m).
- Goalkeeper
- Defends the goal from the crease/goal circle with a larger crosse and extra protection.
- FOGO (face-off specialist)
- "Face-off, get off": a specialist who takes the face-off then substitutes.
- Man-down face-off
- Face-off with a player in the box: still four back and three up; a wing is dropped.
- Players on the field (men)
- A team has at most 10 (youth 7v7: 7), counting players in the penalty area.
- Designated goalkeeper
- Exactly one properly equipped goalkeeper on the field.
- Four long poles
- No more than four long crosses besides the goalkeeper's (7v7: three).
- Offside (men, offensive half)
- More than six in the offensive half, penalty-area players included, is offside (7v7: four).
- Offside (men, defensive half)
- More than seven in the defensive half is offside (7v7: five).
- Crease violation
- An attacking player touching the opponent's crease during live play.
- Face-off position
- One player per team at the X, body on his own side, hands and feet left of the throat.
- Standing face-off
- No knee on the ground before the whistle (NCAA since 2020-21; NFHS 2027).
- Face-off defensive confinement
- Goalkeeper plus three behind the defensive restraining line at a full-strength face-off.
- Face-off offensive confinement
- Exactly three behind the offensive restraining line at a full-strength face-off.
- Wing players
- One player in each wing area at a full-strength face-off; released on the whistle.
- Penalty-situation face-off
- With players in the box: four back (goalkeeper included) and three up.