college lacrosse

Lacrosse has been known as the "fastest sport on two feet," but recently, this term seems to be losing it's relevance. There are a few reasons for this. The first is the newly placed importance on specialists. This includes offensive middies, defensive middies, and fogos (face off, and get off). Because it's rare for a midfielder to play two ways, transition isn't as emphasized anymore. Many teams would rather settle the ball down, and get the right personnel on the field instead of pushing the ball from defense to offense with their defensive midfielders. Another reason is the new technology in lacrosse sticks that make it very difficult for defenders to take the ball away. Because of this, defenders are less aggressive, and instead stay in more and play position defense instead of trying to take the ball away. Last year, the University of Virginia won a national championship in part by implementing a zone for the first time under coach Dom Starsia. The zone defense was packed in, making the offense be deliberate on when and where to attack.

Many in lacrosse have asked for a shot clock, similar to the professional league, major league lacrosse. The MLL uses a 60 second shot clock, from the start of a possession. I don't think this is the best option for college, however. For one, the professional game is different. There are 2 point shots, and no "box" in which the offensive players have to keep it in in case of a stall. The professional players are also the best players in the world, and can handle the game moving at such a fast pace. The urging for a shot clock in college lacrosse started picking up steam last year when the University of Maryland shockingly upset Syracuse University by sitting on the ball for most of the game, so Syracuse couldn't get up and down the field like they wanted to. Again in the championship game, Uva sat on the ball, killing the clock at the end against Maryland. I don't think a straight 60 second shot clock is the best option, but instead a shorter shot clock, maybe around 45 seconds, that will be called after the refs call a "stall" warning. In lacrosse right now, thee ref calls a stall warning when the offensive team isn't making an attempt to go to the goal, for an arbitrary amount of time. It is up to the refs when to call a stall. When this happens, the offensive team has to keep the ball within the "box," theoretically making it easier for the defense to extend, and pressure the ball to get it back. The box is still big enough for players to maneuver without the defense taking the ball though, as those two games show. So instead, I propose when the ref calls a stall, the team has another 45 seconds to get a shot on goal. After that is a turnover. This will keep the game moving very fast, because teams will be forced to go to the goal, and if they commit a shot clock violation, the other team immediately picks up the ball and runs down the field for a transition situation. This rule will get lacrosse back to the way it was prior, high scoring and fast.