As spring sports are underway, The Chronicle is back with our breakdown of every sport, including key rules, terminology, tournament formats and more. Click here to access our beginner's guide to all other sports. This is our women's lacrosse edition:
Overview
Women’s lacrosse is a game split into four 15-minute quarters, with two teams of 12 players. Each team aims to shoot the ball into the opponent’s goal using a lacrosse stick. A lacrosse stick consists of a shaft with a head strung with a net, allowing a player to cradle, check and shoot. Each team consists of a goalkeeper, four defenders, three midfielders and four attackers. Typically, women’s lacrosse features a game of 12 vs. 12, where teams use their sticks to pass and cradle the ball while advancing up the field to place the ball into their opponent’s net.
Terminology/Positions:
8 meter: A semi-circular area in front of the goal that resembles an arc marked eight meters from the goal center. The 8-meter arc is represented by two lines drawn at a 45-degree angle from the area where the goal line meets the goal circle. The area marks a boundary; fouls committed by a defender inside the arc reward an attacker with an 8-meter shot from the nearest hash mark on the outside of the arc. No defenders are permitted to be inside the arc during the attackers shot.
12 meter: A semi-circle in front of the goal that creates another boundary for fouls. A foul committed by a defender inside the 12-meter boundary allows an offensive player to pass or run with the ball. A major foul inside the 12-meter boundary gives an offensive player a position along the arc to shoot.
Crease: A circular area with a 17-foot diameter that surrounds the goal, acting as a protective zone for the goalie. Offensive players are not allowed to enter the crease at any time during the game. Defensive players are given the ability to enter the crease quickly but they cannot stand in the crease to block a shot from an offensive player.
Goal line extended: This is a line that is created to extend the goal line to the sidelines. The line is not physically marked on the field but it is used by coaches and players to plan strategies and positioning of players.
Critical scoring area: Positioned as an arc in front of the goal, the area extends to about 15 meters in front of the goal circle, 15 meters on this side of the goal circle and 9 meters in the back of the goal. This area marks the appropriate position for attackers to shoot for a goal.
Checking: The act of a defender using their stick to remove the ball from their opponent’s possession. A check is performed through stick-to-stick contact that legally needs to be below shoulder level. The motion of checking must be away from the opponent’s body.
Attacker: There are four attackers per team on the field. The attackers are tasked with creating opportunities for scoring, whether that means that they should aim a shot toward the goal or create a window for another attacker to score. Attackers are able to shoot well from any angle near the net.
Midfielders: Midfielders have the job of transporting the ball between the defenders and the attackers. There are three midfielders that excel in speed and effective passing between the other positions. Out of three midfielders, one is a center whose job is to control the draw and switch between attack and defensive positions.
Defenders: Defenders serve as an outlet for facing the opposing attackers. They act as a line of protection for the goalie, effectively looking to intercept passes. Defenders also utilize stick checking and body checking to stalemate an opposing attacker.
Goalkeeper: The goalkeepers main responsibility is preventing the ball from entering their own net. A goalkeeper has a longer stick with a large head than other players in order to effectively capture the ball before entering the goal.
Rules/Penalties
Green card: Green cards are awarded for one-minute releasable penalties, like physical fouls, any delay-of-game fouls, and offsides in a team’s defensive end. A green card also resets the shot clock to 90 seconds, and the offending player must enter the penalty area on the sidelines. If the opposing team scores during the minute, the offending player is released.
Yellow card: Similar to a green card, a yellow card is a two-minute releasable penalty for more serious fouls, like checks to the head or illegal use of a stick. The offending player must leave the field and enter the penalty area for the two-minute period while the team plays a man down. If the opposing team scores, the offending player is released. However, if the team yellow card count hits four, all yellow cards become non-releasable. If a player receives two yellow cards in a game, it becomes a red card, and they are prohibited from re-entering the contest.
Red card: A red card is awarded when a player repeatedly violates the rules, has multiple misconduct violations, argues with the referee or uses abusive language. It results in a five-minute non-releasable penalty, and the offending player has to remain in the penalty area for that time while the team plays a man down. Once the penalty is up, the player cannot return to the contest. The player will also be prohibited from playing in the team’s next game.
Free position shot: A free position shot is awarded when a foul occurs inside the critical scoring area. It is a mix between a free kick in soccer and a penalty shot. If the foul happens inside of the eight-meter arc, the player who was fouled is placed on the nearest hash mark on the outside of the eight meter. If it happens between the 12-meter fan and the eight-meter arc, the free position is awarded at the spot of the foul. The defender who committed the foul has to be four meters away. If the foul occurs inside of the eight meter, defenders from the offending team are placed at the hash marks on either side of the shooting player. When the referee blows the whistle, the player may either shoot or pass.
Shooting space: Shooting space is called when a defender denies an attacker an opportunity to shoot safely within the critical scoring area. All this means is that if a defender is standing in the way of the shooter so that the attacker would have to hit them in order to make their way to the goal, it’s considered a foul. This usually happens when a player is charging up the field toward the goal in transition or a defender is running over to help guard and gets in the shooting lane. If shooting space is called, a free position shot is awarded.
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Three seconds: Three seconds applies to the defending team within the eight-meter arc. At all times in this area, defenders must be a stick and arm’s length away from the player they are guarding. If they are not this distance away from an attacker, they cannot be in the eight meter for more than three seconds without drawing a foul. A free position shot is awarded to the offensive team if a three seconds violation is called.
Check to the head: A check to the head happens when a defender attempts to check the ball out of a player’s stick and makes any contact with the attacker’s head or neck. A yellow card is awarded to the offending player, and the offending team has to play a man down for two minutes or until the other team scores. If it occurs inside the critical scoring area, a free position shot is awarded. If it is outside of this area, play resumes from the spot where the foul was called.
Cross check: A cross check occurs when a defender puts their stick against the body of the person they are guarding and uses the stick to push their opponent, hit them or move the player around in any way. Similar to a check to the head, a yellow card is given and the offending team plays man down for two minutes. The same rules for inside and outside of the critical scoring area apply.
Illegal use of stick: A player can be charged with illegal use of a stick for using their stick dangerously in any way. This can include recklessly checking an opponent’s stick, reaching across a player to check their stick, poking another player with their stick or anything else the referee deems dangerous. The offending player is given a yellow card, and the same rules apply as check to the head and cross check.
Offside: A team is called offsides when they have more than seven players behind the offensive restraining line or more than eight players (including the goalie) behind the defensive restraining line. If the ball is outside of the critical scoring area at the time the foul is called, a free position is awarded wherever the ball was at the time the whistle blew. If the ball is within the critical scoring area at this time and below goal line extended, the ball is moved to the nearest dot. If the ball is within the critical scoring area and above goal line extended but not within the eight-meter arc, a player is awarded a spot along the 12-meter fan closest to where the ball is. If the ball is within the critical scoring area and above goal line extended and within the eight-meter, a player is awarded a spot on the nearest hash mark.
Season format
Over the next three months, the Blue Devils will have played in 16 different matchups, where about half of the contests are conference play. Most recently, the team had their ACC road opener against Boston College, and played in their ACC home opener last Friday against Notre Dame. There are 120 active Division I Women’s Lacrosse teams — notably including Johns Hopkins, who compete in Division III in most other sports. About half of ACC members have women’s lacrosse teams, excluding Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina State, SMU, Florida State and Wake Forest. Out of the schools remaining, seven are ranked in the top 25 as of the writing of this article, making the ACC an elite conference for the sport.
At the end of the regular season, the top eight conference teams participate in a traditional bracket-style tournament to determine the ACC champion over the course of three games in five days.
The NCAA tournament is consists of 29 teams in a single-elimination format. The first 15 teams in the tournament are made up of each of the conference champions, while the next 14 teams are chosen by committee to receive at-large bids. These teams are chosen based on criteria such as regular season records and schedule difficulty. The top eight teams then are given seeds, and the top three are given first-round byes.
Coaching staff and recent trends
The Blue Devils are led by Kerstin Kimel, the only head coach in the team’s history. Since the program’s inception in 1996, Kimel has posted a 301-161 record in 29 seasons. While Duke is no stranger to success — with appearances in seven national semifinals, four ACC regular season titles, an ACC Tournament Championship and 21 NCAA Tournament appearances — the Blue Devils have struggled as of late. After a dynamite 2022 season where they went 16-4, Duke has fizzled out with early exits the past two years in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments.
The Blue Devils are also up against some stiff competition in the ACC, a historically powerhouse lacrosse conference that boasts dynasties like North Carolina, Syracuse, Boston College and Notre Dame. More generally, women’s lacrosse is rising in popularity across the country at both the collegiate and high school levels. The sport has seen a 43% participation increase since the beginning of the pandemic, and that is reflected in the number of collegiate programs. Within the ACC, Clemson is the most recent addition to the women’s lacrosse ranks, already ranked No. 7 in just its second season. Florida State is adding a team for the 2026 season as well, bolstering an already stacked conference.
The Blue Devils have lost a few of their record holders in recent years. Maddie Jenner, who used her COVID-19 year in 2023, holds nearly every draw control title there is. She is the Division-I leader in all-time and single-season draw controls, and dominated in the circle for four years, taking over the specialist role from her older sister Olivia. Duke also lost Katie DeSimone, its best goal-scorer, though the former attacker has joined Kimel’s coaching staff.
Fans watching the Blue Devils play this season may notice a butterfly: a sticker on Kennedy Everson’s helmet, a small logo on their warm-up shirts, a silicon bracelet. The butterfly is the symbol for Morgan’s Message, a nonprofit that aims to eliminate stigma around mental health for student athletes. Named for Morgan Rodgers, a program alumna, Morgan’s Message remains central for Kimel and her team. Duke’s chapter was the first of more than 1700 at colleges and high schools across the globe.
Rachael Kaplan is a Trinity senior and a senior editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.
Mackenzie Sheehy is a Trinity junior and associate editor for The Chronicle's 120th volume.