Lacrosse Man Up Rules | Players need to Know

Lacrosse Man Up Rules: The men’s lacrosse team at full strength will have nine field players. An opponent may receive a penalty call that causes them to be placed in a man-up situation, which is referred to as a power play or extra man opportunity.

Man-up situations will be discussed in the following article.

List of Lacrosse Man Up Rules:

Power Play

When one team has more players on the field than their opponent, it’s called a man-up situation, also known as a power play. During a game, a team’s penalty box can hold up to three players at once.

During a power play, teams will utilize man-up offensive approaches and man-down defensive strategies. When a player commits a personal foul or a technical foul, a power play is initiated.

For a player to be sent to the penalty box for a technical foul, they must commit it while their team had possession of the ball.

Read Also: Lacrosse Offsides

Term usage for man up

Defining a few key terms will help us better understand power plays:

  • The penalty box
  • Penalties releasable
  • Penalty not releasable
  • The offense of extra men
  • Defensive man down
  • The penalty kill

Penalty Box

In lacrosse, the penalty box is an area around the scorer’s table on the sideline outside of the substitution area. The player who receives a penalty serves out the penalty in the penalty box for the duration of the penalty.

Releasable Penalty

The term ‘releasable penalty in lacrosse refers to a penalty that expires upon a goal being scored on behalf of the team for which the player is serving the penalty.

Most technical or illegal equipment fouls are punishable by a releasable penalty.

Non-releasable Penalty

Men’s and women’s lacrosse teams must serve all penalty time even after scoring a goal in the case of non-releasable penalties.

Those who violate the rules of hockey in an unsportsmanlike manner, do not wear their mouthguards, or are convicted of spearing receive a non-releasable penalty.

Penalties that are not releasable can last anywhere from one minute to three minutes. Penalties that cannot be released are the opposite of releasable penalties.

Extra Man Offense

Extra man offenses are attack formations or strategies used by attacking teams when they have extra-man opportunities. Due to having one more player than the defense, teams will practice certain drills and offensive plays.

Instead of marking up individual players, short-handed defenses often fall into zones. The creation of two-on-one situations forces the defense to stretch or move out of position.

Man Down

An offense with fewer players than the defense is said to be “man down.”

To prevent shots on goal, defenders must change tactics or formations. When a defense is down, players are often crowded closer to the goal.

Penalty Kill

Man down teams in lacrosse use penalty kill to maintain possession of the ball until the player who is serving a penalty returns to play.

An extra man opportunity is prevented from creating a scoring opportunity for the team with the extra man.

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