Section 7: Violations & Penalties
Personal Fouls (Time-Serving)
Personal fouls send the offending player to the penalty box; the team plays short for the duration of the penalty (man-down / extra-man-offense, EMO). Personal fouls and standard durations:
- Slashing: 1 minute (non-releasable in some cases — penalty cannot end early on goal)
- Tripping: 1 minute
- Cross-checking: 1, 2, or 3 minutes depending on severity
- Illegal body check: 1, 2, or 3 minutes depending on severity
- Unnecessary roughness: 1, 2, or 3 minutes
- Unsportsmanlike conduct: 1 minute, non-releasable
- Targeting / blindside / hit to the head or neck: 2 or 3 minutes, non-releasable, with potential ejection under the head/neck protections framework
- Fighting: ejection plus suspension review
Technical Fouls (Loss of Possession or 30-Second)
Technical fouls are infringements that do not warrant time in the penalty box. Resolution:
- If the offended team has possession, the offending team plays the next dead ball as a 30-second loss of possession (e.g., a 30-second penalty box) or the offended team is awarded the ball
- Common technical fouls: holding, pushing from behind, warding (using the off-hand or body to ward off a defender), offsides, illegal procedure, crease violation, illegal substitution, stalling, conduct, illegal stick (specifications)
Faceoff Violations (2025/26 Rule Change)
The 2025/26 cycle replaced the prior "three faceoff violations in a half = 30-second team penalty" framework with a per-player framework. If a faceoff player commits a violation, that player cannot participate in the next faceoff their team takes; the team may replace the violator. The team-aggregate 30-second penalty for accumulated faceoff violations was eliminated.
Stalling
The offensive team is required to keep the ball within the offensive half-field area within the team's restraining box ("stay in the box") and to attempt offense within the shot-clock framework. Stalling can be called when the offensive team is clearly making no attempt to attack the goal; the penalty is a 30-second possession violation (or technical foul depending on the circumstance).
Video Review
The 2026 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Video Review Parameters list the standing reviewable situations: goal in time, goal/no-goal (was the ball entirely past the goal line), attacking player crease violation on a goal, ball touched a player or another stick after being shot, ball thrown by an attacking player who was hit/contacted during the shot, and certain target-hits to the head/neck that warrant review for ejection consideration.
Effective with the 2027 season, the 2027 and 2028 Men's Lacrosse Rules Changes added a coach's challenge: a head coach may request review of a goal that could be negated because the scoring team was offsides, had too many players on the field, or had a player in possession of the ball step on a boundary line (defined as the lines completely surrounding the field, the midline, and the restraining lines). A challenge may be requested only if the goal was scored within 15 seconds of the alleged violation and no whistle sounded between the violation and the goal; if the game clock is not visible in the video feed, officials may time the play at actual speed with a stopwatch to establish the 15-second window.
Also effective with the 2027 season, officials may initiate video review of potential head/neck contact on their own, without having made an original call on the play, and may rescind a previously called head/neck-contact penalty if video review confirms no illegal contact occurred.