Rule Differences
| 2024 Rules | NCAA/Prep School Ruling (CLOA draft 2-13-24 v16) | NFHS Ruling |
| Clearing Count (for games not played using the 80/60-second all-possession shot clock). | - Clear = 30 seconds (using 20-second timer plus a 10-second manual hand count, if necessary) to get the touch into the attack box. Turnover recovered by team in offensive end is 30 seconds. | - Defensive clear = 20-second timer ends when (1) player in possession touches offensive half of the field or (2) loose ball breaks plane at midfield. - Offensive clear = 10 seconds (hand count) for ball or player in possession to touch the attack area. Turnover recovered by team in offensive half or restart after a penalty involving a change of possession is 10 seconds. |
| Faceoff Violations. | - Three or more faceoff violations in a half (or the entirety of overtime) = assess a 30-second penalty for "delay of game," and the foul shall be served by the offender. | - Accumulation of any number of faceoff violations does not result in an automatic 30-second penalty for the offending team. [Note: Repeated violations could be a releasable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.] |
| Live-ball timeouts. | - Player in possession must be at/beyond his team's offensive restraining line and have at least one foot in contact with the ground. | - Player in possession can be ANYWHERE on the field. - Ball carrier need not have his foot touching the ground (i.e., ball carrier can be in the air when timeout is requested.) |
| Dead-ball timeouts. | - No dead-ball timeouts for the defensive team when the stoppage is within the field of play (and a quick restart is pending). | - Dead-ball timeouts allowed for both teams. |
| Player has helmet come off during play. New for 2024 | - Stop play. Technical foul against the player who lost the helmet unless the player's helmet came off as a result of illegal contact by an opponent. Player shall leave the field and may not return until the next dead ball after the restart of play. | - Stop play. Player shall leave the field and may not return until the next dead ball after the restart of play. |
| Offensive team is awarded possession in the attack area and no time-serving penalty is involved. | - The offense is responsible for taking the ball outside of the attack area. A maximum of one pass is allowed for a quick restart. | - The ball shall be awarded to the offensive team laterally outside the goal (attack) area. |
| Delay of a restart to benefit the defensive team's goalkeeper. | - Goalkeeper gets no grace period to get back to his crease prior to any restart. | - Goalkeeper is given a maximum of five seconds to get back to his crease prior to any restart. [Note: This applies only when the goalkeeper leaves the crease for a legitimate purpose and not if he is just trying to delay the restart.] |
| Termination of the slow whistle. | - Slow whistle play continues for any number of defensive flags down. | - Slow whistle is terminated immediately on the second flag down unless a "scoring play is in progress" in which case there are specific conditions listed in the rulebook which would end play. |
| Illegal Crosse. | - Deep pocket = 1 minute nonreleasable. Repaired crosse can be returned to game at risk of reinspection (i.e., official does not conduct a free courtesy
check). - Fails rollout or dimensional tests = 3 minutes nonreleasable. Crosse stays at the table for remainder of game (i.e., no touching or inspections of the crosse is allowed until after game is over). |
- 2 minutes nonreleasable for any penalizable infraction, regardless if a deep pocket or a failure of the dimensional/rollout tests. Repaired crosse can be returned to the game at risk of reinspection (i.e. official does not conduct a free courtesy check). Crosse can be fixed and returned at any time. It does not have to remain at the table. |
| Goalkeeper A1 (or other player from Team A) in possession brings the crosse back through the plane of the goal and the ball drops to the ground beyond the goal line. | - Goal. | - New for 2024: No goal. Award ball to Team B. |
| Rules pertaining to crease, goal mouth, and jump/dive. | - NCAA has specific rules pertaining to crease and goal mouth. If no goal mouth, use NFHS rules. | - Goal mouth not used. NFHS has specific rules regarding jump/dive. |
| Game clock time. | - Stop time is always used regardless of the goal differential. | - Running time whenever goal differential reaches 12 goals in the second half. Never goes back to stop-time. (Clock only stops for team, official and injury time-outs). |
| Random inspections initiated by the officials. | - Only the crosse is inspected. - Officials shall select any player, not necessarily those required under NFHS rules. |
- Full equipment inspection, including the crosse. - Officials shall select players whom they suspect may be using illegal equipment, who are involved in scoring, or who frequently are involved in ball-handling situations. |
| Multiple infractions found on an inspected player. | - All penalties are enforced. [Note: A coach's request for an inspection includes the crosse and all other equipment.] | - A player with both an illegal crosse and an equipment violation will only be penalized for the more severe of the violations. |
| Head Coach's Request for Equipment Inspection or Count of Long Crosses | - May be requested at any dead ball. Exception: When there is a stoppage within the field of play and a quick restart pending, the equipment inspection or count of long crosses may only be requested by the team entitled to possession on the restart. | - May be requested at any dead ball. |
| Warding: Use of the "bull dodge" [Note: In both rulebooks, the ball carrier must have both hands on his own crosse to avoid a foul for Warding.] | - Bull dodge is legal (i.e., ball carrier can redirect his opponent's body or crosse, but ball carrier must have both hands on his own crosse. "Stick
good, body good.") - However, a bull‐dodger can still be called for a personal foul (e.g., spearing, targeting head/neck, illegal body check, unnecessary roughness). |
- Bull dodge is NOT legal (i.e., ball carrier can redirect his opponent's crosse or the opponent's hands on the crosse, but the ball carrier cannot redirect any other part of the opponent's body. "Stick good, body bad.") |
| Contact of crosse to helmet for other than a "normal" slashing action (e.g., the contact is either a cross-check or a body-check to the head/neck.) | - For indirect contact to the head/neck, the penalty is one minute nonreleasable. - For direct contact to the head/neck, the penalty is two minutes nonreleasable. - For excessive or flagrant contact to the head/neck, the penalty is three minutes nonreleasable and a possible expulsion. |
- New for 2024: For indirect contact to the head/neck, the penalty is one minute nonreleasable. Otherwise, 2 or 3 minutes nonreleasable and possible ejection. Intentional targeting is 3 minutes nonreleasable and possible ejection. |
| Stalling. | - For games without 80/60-second shot clock, time the 30 seconds off of the game clock. No stalling if uneven situation. No automatic stall. | - Get it in / Keep it in. During the last two minutes of the game, an automatic stall warning is imposed upon the team ahead by 1, 2, 3, or 4 goals. [Note: Stall warning is discretionary in all other cases.] |
| Spearing: Blocking an opponent with the head or initiating contact with the head | - 1 minute nonreleasable penalty minimum. Can be up to 3 minutes nonreleasable and possible ejection. | - 2 or 3 minutes nonreleasable and possible ejection. |
| Protections for a defenseless player (if NOT considered "Intentional Targeting" of a defenseless player). | - No mention. | - 2 or 3 minutes nonreleasable and possible ejection. Checking of a defenseless player is illegal. Defenseless includes but is not limited to: (a) body checking a player from his “blind side”; (b) body checking a player who has his head down in an attempt to play a loose ball; (c) body checking a player whose head is turned away to receive a pass, even if that player turns toward the contact immediately before the body check; and (d) body-checking a player lying on the ground. |
| "Intentional Targeting" of a defenseless player. | - No mention of defenseless player or targeting. Could use unnecessary roughness, illegal body check, or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. | - A player shall not initiate targeting that intentionally takes aim at a player in a defenseless position. - The penalty for Rule 5‐4 ("INTENTIONAL TARGETING") is an automatic 3‐minute nonreleasable foul with a possible ejection. |
| Field player (i.e., non-goalkeeper) entering his own crease to block shots. | - Legal. | - Conduct foul for first offense. Second offense on same team is a releasable unsportsmanlike conduct foul served by the offending player. |
| Eyeshade, face paint, or face stickers. | - No mention by NCAA, so legal. | - Eye shade that is not a solid stroke or that includes words, numbers, logos, or other symbols is a one minute nonreleasable foul. |
| Penalty for expulsion/ejection. | - 3 minutes nonreleasable regardless of the person. Report to assigner the name, number, team, and foul committed by offender. | - 1-minute nonreleasable for a coach. - 3-minutes nonreleasable for a player. - CIAC Ejection Report Form must be filed with assigner. |
| Automatic expulsion/ejection for second nonreleasable unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the same person. | - No automatic expulsion for a second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of any kind. | - Mandatory ejection of person, plus the ejection penalty. |
| Goalkeeper outside of crease is treated as a field player and loses all goalkeeper protections | - False. If goalkeeper anywhere on the field has equipment that breaks or is dislodged, then suspend play immediately and fix the problem unless a shot is already in flight. | - True. If goalkeeper is outside of the crease and has broken or dislodged equipment, then play continues (unless in a scrimmage area and there is a dangerous situation). |
| Minimum number of players in game. | - No minimum specified. | - 7 field players, not including those in penalty area. |
| Reset of the clearing count due to a timeout. | - For games with 80/60-second shot clock, clearing count only resets for an injury timeout involving a defensive player. All other timeouts do not
affect the clearing count. - For games using 30-second clearing count, live-ball timeouts satisfy the clear. |
- Clearing count resets for any kind of timeout called for any reason. |
| Number of game balls. | - 6-10 balls on each end line and sideline. | - At least 4 balls on each end line and sideline. |
| Pre-game arrival time by the officials. | - 30 minutes. | - 20 minutes. |
| Adjustable-length shafts. | - Allowed by NCAA, but cannot be adjusted during play. | - Not allowed by NFHS. |
| Shot enters goal after end of period. | - The goal will be disallowed if the ball touches an offensive player or the player's equipment after the end of the period and before the shot enters the goal. | - If any of the following occur between the end of the period and the shot entering the goal, the goal will be disallowed: a) The ball makes contact with any member of the attacking team or attacking team member's equipment; or b) The ball is touched by a player of either team other than the defending goalkeeper after hitting the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper's equipment, goal posts, or crossbar. |
| After the faceoff but before the ball crosses the defensive-area line or possession is called, the ball becomes stuck in a player's uniform or equipment. | - Reface the ball. | - Use alternate possession. |
| Tape on the plastic throat of the head of the crosse. | - Illegal crosse except for goalkeeper. 3-minute nonreleasable foul. Crosse stays at the table for the remainder of the game. | - Illegal procedure for player taking a faceoff. Legal for other players. |
| Completely clear mouthpiece. | - Legal if the head coach certifies that it shall be clear for a medical reason. | - Illegal. |
| Player loses required equipment in the scrimmage area while the ball is loose and is, in the opinion of the official, in danger of injury. | - Illegal procedure. Playing without equipment. | - Alternate Possession. Exception: If it occurs after a faceoff, before possession, and the ball is between the defensive-area lines, then reface. |
| Official stops game for bleeding player. Either team calls timeout. | - Player may remain in game if bleeding is corrected before the timeout ends. | - Player may re-enter game after the next dead ball following the resumption of play. |
| Goalkeeper leaves field of play due to an injury or a penalty. | - If the team wants to warm up the goalkeeper, it shall call a timeout. | - The team is given one minute to warm up the goalkeeper. |
| On a shot, the ball goes out of bounds and two inbounds players of opposite teams are equidistant from the ball when it goes out of bounds. | - The official may award the ball using alternate possession. | - New for 2024: The official must decide which player was closest and not use alternate possession. |
| Uniform Violation after the game begins | - Technical Foul. | - No penalty. |
| Faceoff and then ball goes out of bounds in the midfield area before possession and the ball is awarded. | - Players behind the defensive area line are released on the whistle restarting play. | - Players behind the defensive area line are released when the ball goes out of bounds. |
| Signal for hit to head/neck | - Specific signal is in rulebook. | - No specific signal. Use illegal body check. |
| Situation in which the full game time is not played. | - By mutual consent of both head coaches, a game may be declared official if the contest has progressed to a "reasonable point of conclusion" (three periods completed). | - For an interrupted game because of events beyond the control of the responsible authorities (e.g. weather), and by mutual consent of the opposing coaches and the approval of the referee, any period may be shortened or the game terminated. |
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