Here are some of the basics with some key strategic choices that coaches have to make every game.
Faceoffs: almost every possession starts with a faceoff. Two players must scrum for the ball at the center of the field. When the whistle blows, two other players may come in from the wings to assist in securing possession. If a player “jumps” before the whistle blows to start play, the other team is awarded possession.
Face-offs are really, really important. If you have a strong faceoff player, you can turn lacrosse into a make-it-take-it affair. This is why teams tend to go on scoring runs, and why momentum can shift so quickly. If a faceoff man is talented enough, he will usually be referred to as a FOGO (Face Off, Get Off) who focuses solely on taking possession before being substituted out. Duke freshman Jake Naso has been a nice surprise this year as a first-year faceoff man for the Blue Devils.
Players: ten players to a side, including a goalie. Three defenders. Three attackmen—who are typically smaller, faster, and have the strongest stick skills. Three midfielders—who play both ways and are more versatile than either attackers or defenders.
You must have four players in your defensive zone at all times. Generally, this is the goalie and three defensemen. Sometimes, though, a defender will be in a better position to advance the ball into the opposing team’s zone. If this is the case, a midfielder from that team has to stay back. If you have fewer than four people in your defensive zone, your team is offsides. This will result in a penalty in favor of the other team.
Defensive-oriented players are allowed the use of long sticks. A maximum of four long-stick-equipped players may be on the field at once. This is a key decision: if you’re a defensive coordinator, to which opposing attackers do you assign your long sticks? Most teams match up three long sticks on the three attackmen, and then assign a long-stick midfielder (LSM) to the opponent’s best midfielder. Sometimes, though, you might double-pole the midfield, meaning you guard an attackman with a short-stick defender.
In midfield play, as well, you might also see two LSMs at once sometimes, particularly on the wings during faceoffs if possession is crucial.
Clearing and Riding (Transition): when a team’s goalie makes a save, that team then starts their offensive possession by advancing the ball towards the opponent’s goal. They must do this in less than 20 seconds. This is called a
clear; the opposing team is said to be
riding. Because the goalie for the team with possession is part of the clear, riding teams are usually at a slight disadvantage unless they assign their goalie to cover an offensive player. When this happens, the riding team is said to be running a
10-man ride. You won’t see this until late-game situations—think of it like a full-court press in basketball.
Offensive Play: in traditional six-on-six offense, you’ll notice that much of the coordination is similar to basketball. Offensive players will try to penetrate the defense and draw a
defensive slide before dishing it. Teams can run picks, with all of the minutiae of a pick-and-roll scheme included.
A lot of teams will try to use picks to get the matchups they want—ideally, you want your most skilled offensive player to avoid the long-stick defenders. If you can get a short stick matched up on your best offensive player, that will pay dividends for your team. Again, it’s like basketball: imagine if you got the other team’s center matched up on your star point guard.
The other interesting thing about lacrosse is that you can attack from behind the goal. This area is referred to as
X. A lot of teams try to run their offense through X. Some defenses don’t like sending their defenders behind the goal if they can avoid it because the ball carrier by definition can’t shoot and score from that position. This gives the attacker more space to operate. Offensively, then, it becomes all about making off-ball cuts and off-ball screens to get players open in front of the goal. If that happens, the player at X can make quick feeds to get their team easy goals. A big part of Duke’s offense this year runs through fifth-year grad transfer senior Michael Sowers, who is excellent at playing from X and leads the nation in points per game.
From the time a goalie makes a save, an 80-second shot clock starts. (This also includes the clearing period.) If a shot makes contact with the goalie or the goal, the clock resets.
Very important: if a shot misses or rebounds and then goes out-of-bounds, the player nearest the ball when it went out-of-bounds retains possession for their team. This is why you see players seemingly chase the ball after it misses. This is also why teams want to have a player at X—usually that player is in the best position to get “backup” to retain possession for their own team after a missed shot.
Penalties and Man-Up: There are many ways that a player can be penalized. Most have to do with excessive force. The most common penalties are...
Slashing: excessive wind-up or using the stick to hit a player in the head. You can do simple poke checks but a wind-up will generally earn you a trip to the Sin Bin.
Push: pushing the player in the back. All contact needs to be in the front or sides. A push in a loose-ball situation where neither team has possession usually just results in the other team getting the ball. A push with possession is a time-serving penalty.
Cross Check: using the shaft of the lacrosse stick when making physical contact with another player. If you are pushing or shoving another player, you have to have your hands close together on your stick.
Generally, any contact to the back or head is what earns you a penalty.
Most penalties are 30- or 60-second penalties. When a team gets a penalty, the other team goes man-up. It’s the same thing as a power play in hockey. If a goal is scored, usually the penalty is wiped out and play resumes with a face off at even strength. For more severe penalties, though, they might be non-releasable, meaning a team will continue to play man-down until the full time is served.
This year’s Duke team: historically, the Ivy League is a strong lacrosse conference. However, because the Ivy League canceled spring sports due to COVID, many strong players transferred. One such player is
Michael Sowers, who was last year’s front-runner for the Tewaaraton Trophy (think the Heisman) at Princeton. He transferred to Duke as a fifth-year senior and leads a loaded offensive attack. Joining him is freshman sensation
Brennan O’Neill, who has been referred to as the “Zion Williamson of Lacrosse.” Our attack is rounded out by
Joe Robertson, who has scored overtime game-winning goals against #2 North Carolina and #3 Virginia this season already.
Because we had strong additions to our attack, many of our strong attackers from last year round out our midfield unit. Because you can substitute on-the-fly, we specialize a lot with offensive- and defensive-minded midfielders. On the defensive side, players to watch are JT Giles-Harris—the brother of Duke Football’s Joe Giles-Harris—who anchors our defensive unit. Mike Adler (Goalkeeper) is a fifth-year transfer from St. John’s who has been very strong in the cage for us this year.
Duke is currently ranked #4 in the country after dropping our first game to Notre Dame last week. The ACC is truly loaded this year—all five ACC teams that field a lacrosse team are ranked in the Top 10.