What is Field Lacrosse? The Rules of Field Lacrosse.

Field Lacrosse:

 "The objective of the game is for your team to score more goals than the opposing team"

Field lacrosse is played with two teams with 10 players on the field at any one 

time. 

They consist of 1 goaltender, 3 defenders 

, 3 midfielders and 3 attackers. The big difference between field lacrosse and box lacrosse is that in field lacrosse, you must keep at least 4 players (including the goalie) in your defensive half of the field and you must keep 3 players in your attacking half of the field.

The Rules of Field Lacrosse:

To score a goal, a player must use his lacrosse stick 

and shoot the ball into the goal. The ball must completely cross the goal line and the shooting player must not step into the crease for a goal to count. Goals are 6ft wide and 6ft high, and the goal crease is 18ft in diameter. The field is 110 yards long by 60 yards wide and the goals are located 15 yards in, at each end of the field. The game starts with a Face Off. Once a team has possession of the ball they will try and move the ball towards the opposing goalie and try and score. 

You can pass the ball directly between teammates, pass along the ground to a 

teammate. or cradle the ball and run with it. The idea is to set up in good position to be able to shoot the ball towards the goal. The opposing team will try and stop you by blocking shots body checking or stick checking body checking or stick checking. They will try and take the ball away from you so that they can score themselves. 

Field lacrosse is played with two teams with 10 players on the field at any one 

time. 

They consist of 1 goaltender, 3 defenders 

, 3 midfielders and 3 attackers. The big difference between field lacrosse and box lacrosse is that in field lacrosse, you must keep at least 4 players (including the goalie) in your defensive half of the field and you must keep 3 players in your attacking half of the field. The three midfielders, may go anywhere on the field they wish. Another difference is that up to 4 players on each team can use a long lacrosse stick. 



The game is played in 4 x 15 minute quarters for a total playing time of 60 minutes. Highest score at the end of time wins. Just like Ice Hockey, Field Lacrosse is filled with things that you can and cannot do. Should you break one of these rules , you will serve a time penalty. leaving your team with one less player, and your opponents with a man-advantage. The team with the man advantage is known as the ‘extra man offense’ or ‘man-up’ This makes it easier to score a goal as there is one less player to defend the net. The team with a man in the penalty box is known as ‘Man Down’ and usually they defend like crazy until the time of the penalty expires. The length of the time of the penalty depends on the infraction made: Technical Fouls such as holding and offside results in a 30 second penalty. Personal Fouls such as tripping and unsportsmanlike conduct results in a 60 second penalty. 



Major Fouls such as using illegal equipment and disputing the 

officials 

results in a 3 minute penalty. So that’s basically Field Lacrosse in a nutshell, but there’s a few more things you’ll need to understand before playing or going to a game. For example:

Offsides.

As previously mentioned before, you must keep at least four players in your defensive half and 3 players in your attacking half. This means that you can have a maximum of 7 players in your defensive half. Any more than that, and the offending player will be called for offside, and the player is sent off for 30 seconds.

In Major League Lacrosse only, if you shoot the ball from outside this area 

and it goes in, this is worth two goals. This rule does not apply in any other lacrosse league. That’s a lot to take in, but as as you watch or play field lacrosse the rules will become clear.