However, unlike basketball, scoring does not necessitate that the opposing team gets the ball. In lacrosse, after each score the two teams must fight for the next possession in a specialized ritual called the face-off. A face-off occurs at the beginning of every quarter and after each goal, and in a typical game a team can expect to face-off about 20 times.
“It’s kind of like having to do a jump ball after every goal,” senior midfielder Peter Smyth explained.
Because this specialized skill determines every possession, the presence of a strong face-off player is crucial to any game. One of the key weaknesses of Princeton’s 4-8 season last year was their inability to win face-offs and gain possession; the Tigers’ 41 percent face-off win percentage was last in the Ivy League and one of the worst in the country.
That number improved significantly in the first three games, as Princeton (2-1 overall) has won 58 percent of its face-offs, and all three face-off specialists have a win percentage over 50. Yet issues still remain. During the loss to Hopkins last week, Princeton won only three of nine face-offs during the first half. Coupled with a Blue Jay offense that took its time by holding long possessions, Princeton ended the first half with just nine shots compared to Johns Hopkins’ 17. That all contributed to a 5-2 goal deficit in a game the Tigers lost 10-8.
“[Being outmatched on face-offs] is like having to do a jump ball after every point with a guy a foot taller than you,” Smyth said.
The critical nature of the face-off has prompted heightened specialization of players’ abilities for the role. In lacrosse jargon, the face-off players are called “FOGOs,” which stands for “Face-off, Get off.” Smyth said he considers himmself a FOGO, while junior midfielder Bobby Lucas — one of the team’s main face-off men — said he also plays defense.
“I’m kind of like a kicker, except I’m totally competent and everything, and I do play some defense,” Smyth said. “[Facing off] helps you distinguish yourself on the team.”
In a face-off, two opposing players crouch across from each other at midfield, sticks parallel, with their backs to their respective goals. Neither player can move until the referee blows the whistle, after which each tries to clamp down on the ball or prevent the opposing player from clamping on the ball.
Winning a face-off is usually determined by the first move a player takes, Lucas explained, so face-off skills combine quick-twitch reaction time and anticipation of the referee’s whistle.
“The ref is supposed to change the cadence of his call after calling the face-off,” Lucas said. “If you’re really good you can figure out when the ref is going to go and just start instantly.”
The most basic move players employ after the whistle is to use the back of their stick pockets to trap the ball beneath their stick in a move aptly called a “clamp.” Afterwards, the controlling player can either rake the ball backwards to themselves or to one of two teammates sprinting into the scrum from the midfield wing.
The “laser” attempts to counter the clamp by quickly placing the stick over the ball so that the opposing player clamps on their stick instead of on the ball. The player employing the “laser” can then rake the ball back towards themselves for possession of the ball.
To make matters even more complicated, the face-off player can counter the laser by using a move called “the plunger,” in which the FOGO thrusts their stick onto the ball and pushes it around the opposing player’s legs, immediately starting a fast break opportunity.
The clamp-laser-plunger set of techniques create a rock-paper-scissors style complication to face-offs, which requires knowing the individual opponent and his tendencies.
The possibilities for alternative moves are endless. Smyth said that junior midfielder Jeff Froccaro, who often faces off for Princeton as well, employed a move in high school dubbed “Black Magic.” Froccaro would clamp on the ball, rake it outward and over his back and immediately back into his own pocket while moving forward. This gave Froccaro an immediate fast break opportunity with little time for the defense to react.
But the battle for the ball does not tell the whole story of the face-off. Lucas explained that generally the aim is to push the ball out to a teammate sprinting in from the wings, much in the way that a basketball tip-off is intended to tip the ball to a teammate on the side.
“Even if you can win the ball, if their wing gets there faster then you’ll still lose possession,” Smyth said, “so you need a lot of help from the midfield.”
Finding that extra edge can often push FOGOs to look for an illegal advantage, either by clamping too early or by using an illegal tactic. When called for a violation, the offending player must immediately run off the field to be replaced by a teammate. This not only gives his opponent possession of the ball but creates a small man-up advantage.
“[It] gives you a four or five second window to pass the ball to a middie and shoot for a quick goal while the other team has to wait for the new guy to get on the field,” Lucas said.
The quick pace and small area of the face-off provides an easy opportunity for players to cheat without being seen by referees. Lucas said that Cornell’s face-off player during the 2011 NCAA Championships was infamous for clamping on the ball with his hands — a violation — and throwing the ball back to his midfield wing players.
“Lacrosse is such a small world anyway that all these guys have pretty much gone up against each other,” Smyth said.
The Tigers’ game this weekend against UNC will provide a tough test, as Tar Heel R.G. Keenan is one of the best face-off players in the nation with a 71 face-off win percentage. However, Keenan has gone just 13-of-31 on face-offs in the last two games, both losses.
To beat Keenan, Lucas said the team has been spending time watching video of UNC’s contests.
“[We need to] figure out how someone who was already so good was taken out so easily,” Lucas said.
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