Lacrosse strategy
Defensively, the objective is to keep the opposing team from scoring and to dispossess them of the ball through the use of stick checking and body contact or positioning.
The most common offense used in settled situations is known as the "2-3-1" (sometimes counted in the opposite direction, as a 1-3-2, or shortened to be called the 1-3 or 13).
The offense also allows the two players on the crease to attempt to set picks to get open, and screen the goalie on shots from the outside.
It also allows attackmen to drive from the top of the field, where may they have a better chance of scoring, because they are facing the goal.
However, this offense can leave the team open to a fast-break, because when the ball is turned over, the midfielders are very far from their own defensive half.
This is due to the lack of a shot clock at most levels of competition, so a man defense will tend to force more turnovers.
Unlike in most man defenses, defenders do not go very far below the goal line, so often an attackmen at X can simply hold the ball and wait for an open pass.
Overall, man defenses are favored as they allow players to strip the ball and attempt to intercept passes more aggressively.
Fast breaks occur when an offensive player has the ball, and comes into the defensive half without anyone covering him.
Fast breaks usually occur because a player caught an outlet pass from the goalie, won a face-off, or stripped the ball on defense and carries it the other way.
If the fast break player is coming on the right, then the top attackman will simply switch to the left side.
The fast break player will attempt to draw a defensemen, then pass to the top attackmen.
It is very important that defensemen remain close to the goalie, or it will be easier to get an offensive player open for a shot.
The term "ride" refers to the efforts of the opposing attackmen and midfielders to recover the ball before it can be brought into their defensive zone.
A settled clear occurs when one team gets the ball in their defensive half of the field after a stoppage in play.
Zone rides generally aim to force the clearing team to make long passes, or take 20 seconds to cross the half-field line.
Zone rides are usually easier for less defensively skilled attackmen, and are less likely to result in fast breaks.
Another system is to use man-to-man defense, usually leaving the goalie or a defenseman with weak skills unguarded, and forcing them to bring the ball up on their own.
The danger in this system is that it is possible that none of the clearing midfielders will cross the mid-field line, so that the defenseman will not be able to stay onsides and cover him (remember, teams must always have 4 players on their defensive side of the field).
Man-up and Man-down, also known as power play, or extra man opportunity (EMO), refers to situations where one team is shorthanded as a result of a penalty.
One is known as the box-and-one defense, because one defenseman covers the man on the crease, while the other 4 players form a box.
As a result of being a man down, the defense must be less aggressive against long-range shooters, so they may allow long range shots that have a low percentage of scoring.
"Regular substitution" can also occur after goals are scored and penalties are reported to the scorer's table.
[5] This means that a coach is no longer allowed to request a horn to make a substitution on a ball out-of-bounds on the sideline.
The horn is only used for signalling issues at the table that require the officials' attention, such as a player illegally entering the field, and the ends of periods.
