There are two kinds of fouls in lacrosse: technical fouls and personal fouls. Technical fouls are less serious; personal fouls often concern safety and consequently are penalized more harshly. Officials may give some latitude based on the level of play and the force behind any contact.
Possession Fouls
If team A commits a technical foul while possessing the ball, the official will stop the play and award the ball to team B. In this case, there is no penalty time to be served. These are known as Possession Fouls, i.e. the fouled team gains possession of the ball as a result of the foul.
If team A commits a technical foul while the ball is loose, the official will yell “Play On” and hold up his hand. If team B does not gain possession of the ball during play within the next few seconds, the official will blow the whistle and award the ball to team B. This rule, similar to that in soccer, allows the team that was fouled to maintain any advantage it had without disrupting the flow of the game.
No penalty flag is dropped for possession fouls.
Time Serving Fouls
Time serving fouls occur when (1) a technical foul is committed against a team that has possession of the ball or (2) when a personal foul is committed. The offending team must play without that player for a specified period of time (“man down”). Penalty times for technical fouls are always 30 seconds; penalty times for personal fouls are 1, 2, or 3 minutes, depending on the severity of the foul. Ejections are 3-minute violations, and are served by the “in-home” player, the first attackman listed in the scorebook.
If team A has the ball in possession and team B commits a foul, the referee will signal the foul by throwing a yellow flag and calling out “Flag Down”. Play continues until one of the following occurs: (1) a second defensive foul, (2) a penalty by the offense, (3) a goal is scored, (4) the defense gains possession, or (5) the ball goes out of bounds.
If team A scores a goal with the flag down and the penalty is a technical foul, the goal counts and the foul is waived off. However, if the penalty is a personal foul, the penalty is enforced.
When a time serving foul is called, the referee stops play at the appropriate time and signals to the scoring table the foul and the amount of time to be served. The offending player goes directly to the penalty area and takes a knee beside the scorers table to serve the penalty time. His team must then play “man down” for the time he is in the penalty area. The player is released from the area when his time expires or the opposing team scores a goal. The exception to this is a “non-releasable penalty”. The player serving a non-releasable penalty must serve his entire penalty time. These fouls are considered more serious in nature.
Personal Fouls
Slashing
Using the stick to hit any part of an opponent’s body except for the gloved hand is considered a slash. It must be a definitive blow. However, swinging the stick in a reckless manner, even if contact does not occur, can also be called as a slash. If the ball carrier turns or moves to avoid a check that is already on the way, and the check lands where it isn’t supposed to, it may not be considered a slash. While stick-to-helmet contact is often easy to identify because of the sound, not every contact is considered a slash. Officials must consider who initiates the contact and whether it is a blow.
Illegal Body Check
Illegal body checks include the following:
- Checking an opponent who is more than five yards from a loose ball.
- Initiating contact above the shoulders or below the waist
- Checking an opponent who has any body part other than his two feet on the ground.
- Hitting an opponent from the rear.
- Initiating a check with one hand on the stick.
- Spearing (leading with the helmet).
If a player turns his back toward a defender right before a body check (to brace for impact perhaps), and the check would have been legal had he not, it might be judged legal on the field.
Cross Checking
Checking with the part of the stick between the hands, with positive outward action, is a cross check.
Checks to the Head and Neck / Defenseless Player / Targeting
Cross checks and illegal body checks that contact an opposing player’s head/neck or are made on a defenseless player are penalized more severely. Such checks result in non-releasable penalties of 2 or 3 minutes, and possible ejection if excessively violent. Intentionally targeting the head/neck results in a 3 minute non-releasable penalty and possible ejection. While most slashes – even to the head/neck – are usually releasable penalties, they may also be called non-releasable if excessively violent.
Unnecessary Roughness
This involves any player making a particularly violent hold, push, or body check. It may also be a player, when he knows a pick has been set, intentionally running through the pick with violent contact to the screening player. Or, a ball carrier who lowers a shoulder and runs over a defender. Late hits on passers or shooters usually get this call.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct
Foul language, taunting, and arguing with referees are subject to non-releasable penalties that range from one to three minutes. A player or coach receiving a second USC is ejected from the game. A player’s penalty time for a second offense is automatically 3 minutes; a coach’s second is 1 minute, so as not to overly penalize the players. Fighting and other flagrant misconduct are grounds for immediate expulsion (along with a 3 minute penalty served by the team).
Technical Fouls
As mentioned previously, technical fouls are less severe than personal fouls and result in a change in possession or a 30 second penalty. Some technical violations are black and white in nature – like stepping on/over a line – while others require judgment. Officials assess many of the violations listed below based on advantage/disadvantage. In other words, did the offender create an unfair advantage for himself? Did he unfairly disadvantage his opponent?
Pushing
Pushing involves shoving an opposing player from the rear. Only equal pressure is allowed. Players may be pushed from the front or the side if they are within five yards of a loose ball or in possession of the ball.
Holding
You can hold the ball carrier’s stick with your stick, unless you pin it to his body. You can hold his body with your body, as long as it’s from the front and your hands are on your stick. If you hold his body with your stick or a free hand it’s a penalty. Same goes for grabbing his stick with your hand.
A player may hold the opponent from the side or rear if the opponent is within five yards of a loose ball or is in possession of the ball. A player may also hold the crosse of his opponent with his crosse if the opponent has possession of the ball or is within five yards of a loose ball.
Warding
An offensive player in possession of the ball may not use his free hand or other parts of his body to try to direct the crosse of his opponent’s stick check or the body of an opponent. He may hold his arm out in a stationary position to block checks.
Illegal Procedure
This penalty is a catch-all for several minor infractions, including face off violations, substitution infractions, etc.
Illegal Screen
Offensive players may set screens as in basketball by standing motionless. The screening player must hold his crosse vertically and may not lean out to make contact. To be an illegal screen, CONTACT WITH THE OPPOSING PLAYER MUST BE MADE.
Interference
It is illegal to block the free movement of players who do not have the ball or who are not within five yards of the ball. It is also illegal to interfere with the goalie while he is in the crease.
Withholding the Ball from Play
It is illegal to keep the ball from play by holding a clamped crosse over the ball, standing or lying on the ball, or holding the crosse against the body so the ball cannot come out freely.
Conduct Fouls
Similar to Unsportsmanlike Conduct, only less severe.
