Questions Mark Lacrosse League…

Imagine basketball’s fast break, field lacrosse’s passing, the power plays and penalties which mark ice hockey games. Combine these features and you have the nucleus of box lacrosse, which debuts tomorrow at the Community War Memo­rial.

Most box lacrosse is played in a free­lance style where a few set plays exist. Teams rely on fast breaks and short passes in a system which includes desig­nated positions for each player in the at­tacking zone. The idea is to move from defense to of­fense with several short passes, hoping to catch the opening team behind the play.

The two forwards or wingers are called creasemen. On defense, the creasemen are positioned at the defensive zone (diagram 1). The cornermen act as defensemen. Another goalie’s aid is the pointman, who resides in the crease near the net.

When the goalie stops the shot, the team switches to offense. The fast break begins. The goalie often throws a short pass to either the pointman or corner­man. Usually the cornerman receives the pass and carries the ball into the of­fensive end.

“Most all the teams in our National Lacrosse League are going to be using this style of play,’’ says Rochester Grif­fins’ coach and general manager Morley Kells, whose team opposes Syracuse to­morrow at 8:15 p.m.
’It’s one of the most exciting brands of lacrosse there is. It generally produces more goals. It’s good for offense.”

Once on offense, the creasemen situate themselves on the edge of the crease in scoring territory (diagram 2). They can’t enter the crease area or break across in front of the net, but instead remain stationary.

The cornermen stay behind the crease­men, taking long shots or throwing in­side passes. The pointman directs the of­fensive action, like a playmaker in bas­ketball.

Penalties are as important in box la­crosse as in hockey. When a player is tagged with an infraction, he is sidelined in the penalty bench, and1 his team is forced to play short-handed. A power play for the other team results.

The offensive power play is keyed by the pointman, who passes to cornermen in front of him or creasemen around the net. The defense often responds with a box-type defense, where two players are on the corners and two on the crease.

In basketball or hockey, tip-offs and face-offs occur. The same is true in box lacrosse. Centermen, or drawmen, con­tend with their sticks for the face-offs, which can occur in either end of the floor.

Professional basketball maintains a 24- second clock to speed up the game’s tempo. A 30-second clock is the rule in the National Lacrosse League.

The team with the ball has 30 seconds to hit the goal or force the goalie to make a save. If the clock expires with neither occuring, the other team gets the ball.