Simplified penalty structure approved in women’s lacrosse

New changes reflect rules committees’ focus on safety

Modifications to refine the rules of women’s lacrosse and address unintended consequences resulting from the most recent rules changes last year were approved for the sport.

The Division I Women’s Lacrosse Oversight Committee approved rules changes last week, and the Divisions II and III Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved the changes Tuesday, effective for the 2026-27 academic year. 

In keeping with the ongoing focus on safety and their recent emphasis on simplifying penalty administration, both rules committees recommended refinements to the penalty structure that better align penalties with the nature and severity of the foul, promote greater consistency with other levels of play and governing bodies, discourage unsafe conduct, improve consistency in officiating, enhance efficient game administration, and continue to improve the pace of play. Those changes include:

• Making all yellow cards a two-minute nonreleasable penalty. 
• Reorganizing and consolidating existing stick and body contact fouls into the illegal check and illegal contact foul categories to provide clearer definitions of impermissible actions with a player’s stick or body. 

• An illegal check would be called when a player initiates contact using an uncontrolled or swinging (chopping or hacking) motion of the stick to strike an opponent’s stick, hand or body, regardless of whether the opponent is in possession of the ball. 
• Using one’s stick or body against an opponent’s body in a manner that is unsafe or reckless or that pins, restrains or detains an opponent’s movement, including using the webbed area of the stick to hook, would be illegal contact. 
• Combining the flopping and embellishment fouls into a single flopping foul and strengthening the penalty by classifying it as a flagrant foul, resulting in a yellow card and a two-minute nonreleasable penalty.
• Adding targeting as a new flagrant foul. A player who commits targeting will be assessed a red card. The proposed definition is as follows: any action in which a player initiates forcible contact with an opponent without making a legitimate attempt to play the ball and where the primary purpose of the contact is to strike, hit or otherwise make significant physical contact with a high potential for injury rather than to contest possession.

Video review

Several refinements to the video review rule in women’s lacrosse were approved, including limiting video review requests to coaches, requiring officials to notify both teams’ coaches whenever a video review request has been made, and directing officials to strive to complete a video review within two minutes.

The use of video review will expand and allow officials to identify or confirm the correct offender whenever a yellow or red card is administered, rather than limiting the use of video review to cards resulting in an ejection. 

Timing restrictions will be added for video review requests. Following a goal, requests for an eligible view review must be made before the draw clock expires. During a timeout, any video review request must be made within the first 30 seconds of the timeout.

With flopping reclassified as a flagrant foul that results in a yellow card, potential flopping fouls also will become eligible for video review. In addition, reviews initiated solely to correct timing errors will be limited to timing issues and could not be used to identify or penalize other reviewable fouls. 

Other rules changes

• NCAA women’s lacrosse games will return to the previous rule that allows teams on a power play at the expiration of a quarter or overtime period to retain possession at the beginning of the subsequent quarter or overtime period. The location from which possession is administered on a power play at the start of a quarter or overtime period will remain unchanged.
• Officials are required to conduct at least one stick check per quarter on the players taking the draw and prior to the start of each overtime period. The stick check will be conducted immediately prior to a draw. 
• Players are permitted to exchange sticks with another player on the field when they are not in possession of the ball.
• All equipment subject to certification or governing body approval under the applicable equipment rule must be commercially available to all schools by Jan. 1 preceding the applicable spring season.
• Players receiving red cards will be ejected from the game, but the automatic suspension for the next game has been eliminated.
• The game clock and possession clock must stop during official warnings (e.g., nonengagement and misconduct) and during defensive false starts on an 8-meter free position.

Experimental rules

• During the fall, teams can experiment with the possession clock. Following possession gained from a draw or possession awarded in lieu of a draw, the possession clock will be set to 60 seconds instead of 90 seconds.
• Also, teams can experiment with reducing the total number of players on the field from 12 to 10 and reducing the number of players required below the restraining line from seven to six. 
• If an attacking team fails to keep possession below the restraining line, except for a deflected shot, the opposing team will be awarded possession at the spot of the ball.