The Sports Department

There are a number of strange rules in sports. For instance, there was the unique interpretation of the fumble rule which allowed Tom Brady to be awarded an incomplete pass in the 2001 AFC Championship game as well as the much-reviled designated hitter. But dangerous propelling?

"It's a call that happens when a shooter recognizes that there is somebody in the way and takes the shot anyway, hitting the other player with the stick or ball," women's lacrosse assistant coach Patty Kennedy said.

That such a thing as "dangerous propelling" exists serves notice that the game many female Tigers have excelled at throughout the years is not your father's lacrosse game.

This distinction is evident from the first moment that the teams take the fields in the two sports.

The men's teams do not each occupy their own half of the field before the opening whistle blows in the style of soccer or field hockey. Instead, the attack of Team X stand in their opponent's defensive zone, matched up against the defense of Team Y (and vice versa on the reverse side of the field). The midfielders stand in the center of the field.

As far as the face-off is concerned, the appropriate athletic analogy becomes ice hockey, however, as each center lines up to take the face-off and win possession of the ball for his team. The ball is placed on the ground with the heads of the two centers' sticks forming a wall on either side, and each player scrambles to knock the other off the ball or shovel it towards his waiting teammate after the whistle blows.

The only restriction as to where the players can start on the field in women's lacrosse, on the other hand, is that only five players from each team — the center taking the draw and the two attackers and two defenders trying to catch it — may be within the middle section of the field bound by the two restraining lines.

But what is this "draw?" Is it a face-off like in hockey and men's lacrosse? The answer is: sort of.

The point of the draw is identical to the face-off — to win possession of the ball. It is in form that the draw differs. Instead of battling for the ball on the ground, the two centers line up next to each other standing upright and holding their sticks at right angles from their bodies. The ball is then placed between the two sticks and the centers try to wrench it up and over their heads out of the center circle.

Once one team gains control of the ball another difference between men's and women's lacrosse becomes readily apparent — as one might guess, men's lacrosse is much more physical than women's.

There are two specific types of checking that go on in men's games — stick-checking and body-checking.

Body-checking in men's lacrosse is similar to the way that it is used in men's ice hockey — a player may check another player when he has the ball or is going for it in order to knock him out of position. Players are also allowed to use their sticks to try to knock the ball free but are not limited to stick-to-stick contact.

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Conversely, in women's lacrosse the only checking that is allowed is of the stick-to-stick variety, and even this is tightly regulated. Players may try to dislodge the ball from an opponent's stick with short, controlled raps that are oriented away from her face. A defender only has the right to check if she is in good defensive position — a wild tomahawk chop from behind will be called almost every time and result in a foul.

And what happens when a player receives a foul in women's lacrosse?

Here the sport is similar to soccer in that when one team commits a foul the other team is awarded possession of the ball.

There are both major and minor fouls in women's lacrosse, with major fouls incurring a larger penalty than minor ones. For major fouls — such as pushing or checking to the head — the offender must move four meters directly behind the player who is awarded the ball. For minor fouls — playing the ball off one's body to an advantage or covering the ball with the head of one's stick — the offender is placed four meters to the side of the player with the ball before resuming play.

Men's lacrosse is once again more analogous to ice hockey in the realm of penalties. When a player commits a minor foul like a push in the back or offsides, his team is placed in a man-down situation for 30 seconds. More major fouls such as a slash or vicious hit would draw a one-minute penalty, whereas something truly out of the ordinary like a fight would put a team down for two minutes.

Ultimately, both men's and women's lacrosse are games centered upon speed, passing, and accurate shooting. The goal is to put the ball in the net as often as possible, and the team that accomplishes that the most will earn the victory. As long as it stays away from that dangerous propelling.

(The 'Prince' would like to thank Leigh Slonaker '05 of the women's lacrosse team and Ryan Watson '05 of the men's lacrosse team for their help in the writing of this article.)