Penn State Women's Lacrosse Returns to NCAA Final Four

[Judge Smails]

http://www.centredaily.com/sports/college/penn-state-university/article151841467.html

UNIVERSITY PARK


The Penn State women’s lacrosse team is solidifying itself as one of the nation’s top programs.

The Nittany Lions locked up their 15th trip to the NCAA semifinals Sunday afternoon, including their second straight final four appearance.

“It’s a great statement for us,” coach Missy Doherty said. “We feel like we’re one of the top teams out there and it’s awesome to be going to back-to-back final fours.”

 

[BobPSU92]

Go ladies! Let's get it done!

 

[Judge Smails]

 

[psuro]

They still play the semi and finals at PPL stadium in Chester?

 

[Fairfax Lion]

Congrats to the Lady LAXers on making the NCAA semis.. Keep in mind that they work every bit as hard at their sport as our more visible teams do at theirs and deserve our complete support. It's teams like this that make our standing in the Sears Cup possible..

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

View embedded media

http://www.centredaily.com/sports/college/penn-state-university/article151841467.html

UNIVERSITY PARK


The Penn State women’s lacrosse team is solidifying itself as one of the nation’s top programs.

The Nittany Lions locked up their 15th trip to the NCAA semifinals Sunday afternoon, including their second straight final four appearance.

“It’s a great statement for us,” coach Missy Doherty said. “We feel like we’re one of the top teams out there and it’s awesome to be going to back-to-back final fours.”

I watched a good bit of it on TV and really found it to be quite entertaining - looking forward to watching them in the Semis. I still don't know a lot about the rules and nuances of lacrosse (are there penalty shots? a shot clock? what are the basic rules - offsides?). I did notice that the women don't wear helmets - just eye and mouth guards; why is that? Lacrosse is HUGE where I live and it's fun to watch the little ones playing every weekend at the sports fields near my house.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

They still play the semi and finals at PPL stadium in Chester?

like most of the NCAA Championships, the location of the WLAX Championship moves around. It was at PPL Park in 2015, and in 2016 (though in '16 PPL Park's name had changed to Talen Energy Stadium).

This year, the Championships are at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, MA

The locations have been announced through 2022, and are as follows:

2018 - LaValle Stadium, Stony Brook, NY
2019 - Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD
2020 - Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD
2021 - Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, MD
2022 - Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD

 

[Lion8286]

The locations have been announced through 2022, and are as follows:

2018 - LaValle Stadium, Stony Brook, NY
2019 - Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD
2020 - Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD
2021 - Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson, MD
2022 - Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD

Nice to see they're really mixing things up with their 2019-2022 site choices.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

I still don't know a lot about the rules and nuances of lacrosse

are there penalty shots?

- not quite the same as in ice hockey, but there is something similar, called a free position. If a defender commits a foul within 8 meters of the goal circle in front of the net, the attacker is given a free position at the 8 meter line. At the whistle, there is no defender within 4 meters of the attack player, and no defender between her and the goalkeeper.

a shot clock?

this past year was the first year in college WLAX where there was a shot clock. It's a 90 second clock. In the past, if a team had a lead of 2 or more goals, they might play a version of keep-away, or the equivalent of basketball four corners offense, where they would basically try to stall their way to victory. After gaining possession of the ball, a team has 90 seconds to take a shot, or the ball goes to the other team. If the attacking team takes a shot and it is blocked by the goalie, or hits the pipes of the net, then the close is reset. If the attacking team takes a shot that goes high or wide, the clock continues to count down.

what are the basic rules - offsides?

there is offsides in WLAX

I did notice that the women don't wear helmets - just eye and mouth guards; why is that?

Basically, it's illegal to hit a player in the head, or even to try to check their stick anywhere around the head region, so a helmet isn't all that necessary. Players can elect to wear soft headgear, but it must meet the current ASTM standard for WLAX. (I think there are only 2 headgear that meet the standard, but I could be mistaken on the #.)

The pockets in the crosses are not allowed to be as deep as the pockets of the crosses in men's LAX. As such, the shots are not as hard. In addition, it is a foul if a defender stands between an attacker that is looking to shoot and the net (unless she was defending the attacker when such attacker received the ball). Plus, it is a foul if an attacker takes a shot when a defender OR an attacker's teammate is between the shooter and the net.

All of these rules greatly lessen the chance that a WLAX player will be hit in the head, which is what a helmet would protect against.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

- not quite the same as in ice hockey, but there is something similar, called a free position. If a defender commits a foul within 8 meters of the goal circle in front of the net, the attacker is given a free position at the 8 meter line. At the whistle, there is no defender within 4 meters of the attack player, and no defender between her and the goalkeeper.



this past year was the first year in college WLAX where there was a shot clock. It's a 90 second clock. In the past, if a team had a lead of 2 or more goals, they might play a version of keep-away, or the equivalent of basketball four corners offense, where they would basically try to stall their way to victory. After gaining possession of the ball, a team has 90 seconds to take a shot, or the ball goes to the other team. If the attacking team takes a shot and it is blocked by the goalie, or hits the pipes of the net, then the close is reset. If the attacking team takes a shot that goes high or wide, the clock continues to count down.



there is offsides in WLAX



Basically, it's illegal to hit a player in the head, or even to try to check their stick anywhere around the head region, so a helmet isn't all that necessary. Players can elect to wear soft headgear, but it must meet the current ASTM standard for WLAX. (I think there are only 2 headgear that meet the standard, but I could be mistaken on the #.)

The pockets in the crosses are not allowed to be as deep as the pockets of the crosses in men's LAX. As such, the shots are not as hard. In addition, it is a foul if a defender stands between an attacker that is looking to shoot and the net (unless she was defending the attacker when such attacker received the ball). Plus, it is a foul if an attacker takes a shot when a defender OR an attacker's teammate is between the shooter and the net.

All of these rules greatly lessen the chance that a WLAX player will be hit in the head, which is what a helmet would protect against.

Thanks Tom; is the off-sides like hockey, or soccer? Also, what about a ball hitting a player in the head? I think that would be my primary concern. What types of penalties are there? Just over-aggression?

 

[Judge Smails]

I watched a good bit of it on TV and really found it to be quite entertaining - looking forward to watching them in the Semis. I still don't know a lot about the rules and nuances of lacrosse (are there penalty shots? a shot clock? what are the basic rules - offsides?). I did notice that the women don't wear helmets - just eye and mouth guards; why is that? Lacrosse is HUGE where I live and it's fun to watch the little ones playing every weekend at the sports fields near my house.

Same. Was watching with my daughter and I wanted to bitch about some calls, and said it's hard to do when I know zip about the rule book, haha. Seems we got tripped a couple of times running with the ball and it wasn't called. We also had a penalty shot that was waived off for some reason (left too early?).

Funny thing is the men wear helmets, not the women. Strange.

 

[Judge Smails]

- not quite the same as in ice hockey, but there is something similar, called a free position. If a defender commits a foul within 8 meters of the goal circle in front of the net, the attacker is given a free position at the 8 meter line. At the whistle, there is no defender within 4 meters of the attack player, and no defender between her and the goalkeeper.



this past year was the first year in college WLAX where there was a shot clock. It's a 90 second clock. In the past, if a team had a lead of 2 or more goals, they might play a version of keep-away, or the equivalent of basketball four corners offense, where they would basically try to stall their way to victory. After gaining possession of the ball, a team has 90 seconds to take a shot, or the ball goes to the other team. If the attacking team takes a shot and it is blocked by the goalie, or hits the pipes of the net, then the close is reset. If the attacking team takes a shot that goes high or wide, the clock continues to count down.



there is offsides in WLAX



Basically, it's illegal to hit a player in the head, or even to try to check their stick anywhere around the head region, so a helmet isn't all that necessary. Players can elect to wear soft headgear, but it must meet the current ASTM standard for WLAX. (I think there are only 2 headgear that meet the standard, but I could be mistaken on the #.)

The pockets in the crosses are not allowed to be as deep as the pockets of the crosses in men's LAX. As such, the shots are not as hard. In addition, it is a foul if a defender stands between an attacker that is looking to shoot and the net (unless she was defending the attacker when such attacker received the ball). Plus, it is a foul if an attacker takes a shot when a defender OR an attacker's teammate is between the shooter and the net.

All of these rules greatly lessen the chance that a WLAX player will be hit in the head, which is what a helmet would protect against.

What is strange to me is that if they miss a shot and it goes out of bounds, the offense keeps the ball. Seems counter-intuitive. Is it the closest player to the ball when it goes out keeps the ball?

 

[UncleLar]

What is strange to me is that if they miss a shot and it goes out of bounds, the offense keeps the ball. Seems counter-intuitive. Is it the closest player to the ball when it goes out keeps the ball?

Many years ago, I heard a justification for this as it being a holdover from the original native american game where there were no boundaries. When they took a shot, the most likely team to retain a possession would have been the one closest to the ball. I have no idea if that's an "urban" legend or not.

 

[UncleLar]

Thanks Tom; is the off-sides like hockey, or soccer?

Neither. It has to do with how many players are in the offensive or defensive zones (across midfield in men's lacrosse, across the restraining line in women's).

 

[Tom McAndrew]

What is strange to me is that if they miss a shot and it goes out of bounds, the offense keeps the ball. Seems counter-intuitive. Is it the closest player to the ball when it goes out keeps the ball?

For most of the field, and all other players, if a ball goes OOB, it is awarded to the other team. The exception is shots. Possession on shots that go OOBs is awarded to the team whose player is closest to the goal line (or side line for certain shots) when the ball goes OOB. Teams on offense will purposely station one player behind the net for most of those scenarios.

Seems we got tripped a couple of times running with the ball and it wasn't called. We also had a penalty shot that was waived off for some reason (left too early?)

I didn't see the game, so I can't speak about specific plays. When a team is on the attack, and one of their players gets fouled but remains on the attack, the ref can signal that they saw a foul but are allowing the attack to continue. It's similar, though not identical, to advantage in soccer -- a game that you have followed for years.

If a player (attacker or defender) moves before the whistle on a free position (penalty shot), the play is stopped. If it's the defender that moved too soon, the free position will still be taken by the attack player. If it's the attacker that moved too soon, the ball is turned over to the defensive team.

Thanks Tom; is the off-sides like hockey, or soccer?

Actually it's different than both. In soccer, the second-to-the-last defender and the goalie must be between the offensive player and the net when the play starts, or the offensive player is offsides. In hockey, the attack player can not enter the offensive zone before the puck does. WLAX offsides is somewhat different. However, let's stick with the hockey rink for the explanation. The hockey rink is divided into 3 zones. A LAX field is the same. In LAX, there are limits on the total numbers of players that a team can have in an attack zone. So it doesn't matter where the offensive player or the defensive player is in terms of when an attack starts, or where the ball is versus where the attack player is. It's simply a matter of sending too many attackers, or too many defenders, into one of the attack zones. In college WLAX, offsides doesn't happen all that often. At the other end of the spectrum, offsides happens all the time at the youth level.

Also, what about a ball hitting a player in the head?

It can happen, but it's a surprisingly rare occurrence. If a player takes a shot, or makes a pass, and hits somebody in the head (and it's not because they simply missed the pass), the player that did so would be given a yellow card and their team would play down 1 player for 2 minutes. If the same player were to do that a second time, they would be shown a second yellow, and would be out of the match (I know that's the rule in youth thru high school; I think it's the same in college). The rare times that it does happen are in situations like, 1) a shot or pass it made, and the ball is deflected, so a lot of the acceleration has been decreased, the force of the impact is greatly reduced, 2) a shot is taken but as it's taken the shooter's stick is checked, resulting in a weak shot going in an unexpected direction. Again, in this situation most of the acceleration has been negated, so the force of the impact is greatly reduced.

Goalies are required to wear helmets, and they are hard helmets.

What types of penalties are there? Just over-aggression?

There are a lot of fouls that can be whistled. They are basically classified as major fouls and minor fouls. The restart after the foul is determined by where the foul took place, and what type of foul (major or minor) it was.

Over-agression, or doing something that is not safe for the opponent, are what causes most fouls to be called.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

For most of the field, and all other players, if a ball goes OOB, it is awarded to the other team. The exception is shots. Possession on shots that go OOBs is awarded to the team whose player is closest to the goal line (or side line for certain shots) when the ball goes OOB. Teams on offense will purposely station one player behind the net for most of those scenarios.



I didn't see the game, so I can't speak about specific plays. When a team is on the attack, and one of their players gets fouled but remains on the attack, the ref can signal that they saw a foul but are allowing the attack to continue. It's similar, though not identical, to advantage in soccer -- a game that you have followed for years.

If a player (attacker or defender) moves before the whistle on a free position (penalty shot), the play is stopped. If it's the defender that moved too soon, the free position will still be taken by the attack player. If it's the attacker that moved too soon, the ball is turned over to the defensive team.



Actually it's different than both. In soccer, the second-to-the-last defender and the goalie must be between the offensive player and the net when the play starts, or the offensive player is offsides. In hockey, the attack player can not enter the offensive zone before the puck does. WLAX offsides is somewhat different. However, let's stick with the hockey rink for the explanation. The hockey rink is divided into 3 zones. A LAX field is the same. In LAX, there are limits on the total numbers of players that a team can have in an attack zone. So it doesn't matter where the offensive player or the defensive player is in terms of when an attack starts, or where the ball is versus where the attack player is. It's simply a matter of sending too many attackers, or too many defenders, into one of the attack zones. In college WLAX, offsides doesn't happen all that often. At the other end of the spectrum, offsides happens all the time at the youth level.



It can happen, but it's a surprisingly rare occurrence. If a player takes a shot, or makes a pass, and hits somebody in the head (and it's not because they simply missed the pass), the player that did so would be given a yellow card and their team would play down 1 player for 2 minutes. If the same player were to do that a second time, they would be shown a second yellow, and would be out of the match (I know that's the rule in youth thru high school; I think it's the same in college). The rare times that it does happen are in situations like, 1) a shot or pass it made, and the ball is deflected, so a lot of the acceleration has been decreased, the force of the impact is greatly reduced, 2) a shot is taken but as it's taken the shooter's stick is checked, resulting in a weak shot going in an unexpected direction. Again, in this situation most of the acceleration has been negated, so the force of the impact is greatly reduced.

Goalies are required to wear helmets, and they are hard helmets.



There are a lot of fouls that can be whistled. They are basically classified as major fouls and minor fouls. The restart after the foul is determined by where the foul took place, and what type of foul (major or minor) it was.

Over-agression, or doing something that is not safe for the opponent, are what causes most fouls to be called.

Good stuff. Will be more informed when watching their next game!

 

[sluggo72]

What is strange to me is that if they miss a shot and it goes out of bounds, the offense keeps the ball. Seems counter-intuitive. Is it the closest player to the ball when it goes out keeps the ball?

same as in boys. Great rule as it encourages shooting/scoring. This is why you see, especially in the boys, a shooter get criticized when they shoot with no one behind the goal. the girls play 'natural boundaries' kinda like when you were a kid, and the red car and fire plug were out of bounds, same with the girls. The boys have lines. You are correct, it is whoever is closest to the ball when it goes out of bounds. It has to be a shot on goal and not a pass.
(please change boys to men and girls to women if it needs to be)

 

[UncleLar]

same as in boys. Great rule as it encourages shooting/scoring. This is why you see, especially in the boys, a shooter get criticized when they shoot with no one behind the goal. the girls play 'natural boundaries' kinda like when you were a kid, and the red car and fire plug were out of bounds, same with the girls. The boys have lines. You are correct, it is whoever is closest to the ball when it goes out of bounds. It has to be a shot on goal and not a pass.
(please change boys to men and girls to women if it needs to be)

If the girls that you watching are college players, they have boundaries too. They're are different than the boys, but the lines are there (I'm assuming that we are talking college but your comments might be about youth lacrosse)

 

[sluggo72]

- not quite the same as in ice hockey, but there is something similar, called a free position. If a defender commits a foul within 8 meters of the goal circle in front of the net, the attacker is given a free position at the 8 meter line. At the whistle, there is no defender within 4 meters of the attack player, and no defender between her and the goalkeeper.



this past year was the first year in college WLAX where there was a shot clock. It's a 90 second clock. In the past, if a team had a lead of 2 or more goals, they might play a version of keep-away, or the equivalent of basketball four corners offense, where they would basically try to stall their way to victory. After gaining possession of the ball, a team has 90 seconds to take a shot, or the ball goes to the other team. If the attacking team takes a shot and it is blocked by the goalie, or hits the pipes of the net, then the close is reset. If the attacking team takes a shot that goes high or wide, the clock continues to count down.



there is offsides in WLAX



Basically, it's illegal to hit a player in the head, or even to try to check their stick anywhere around the head region, so a helmet isn't all that necessary. Players can elect to wear soft headgear, but it must meet the current ASTM standard for WLAX. (I think there are only 2 headgear that meet the standard, but I could be mistaken on the #.)

The pockets in the crosses are not allowed to be as deep as the pockets of the crosses in men's LAX. As such, the shots are not as hard. In addition, it is a foul if a defender stands between an attacker that is looking to shoot and the net (unless she was defending the attacker when such attacker received the ball). Plus, it is a foul if an attacker takes a shot when a defender OR an attacker's teammate is between the shooter and the net.

All of these rules greatly lessen the chance that a WLAX player will be hit in the head, which is what a helmet would protect against.

relative to the crosse (sticks) they have now gone to a head more like the boys. In the olden days (mid 70's -80's) the girls were still using all wooden sticks, and thus the 'head' only had 1 side to it. I was told this was why for the most part, the girls played either left handed or right handed and never switched the stick, as the stick limitations demanded this. Now with the girls using a molded head like the boys, can they now go left and right handed? Do they switch the stick? Just wondering, I haven't watched close enough to notice.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

Now with the girls using a molded head like the boys, can they now go left and right handed? Do they switch the stick?

they've been doing that for years. most of the better players can use either side by middle school or high school. it's taught extensively at the youth level, and they'll have entire practices where they are catching, throwing, and shooting with their "off" side.

If a player only uses one side, or overwhelmingly favors one side, any college level defender should be able to shut them down, as they overplay them to their favorite side.

 

[sluggo72]

they've been doing that for years. most of the better players can use either side by middle school or high school. it's taught extensively at the youth level, and they'll have entire practices where they are catching, throwing, and shooting with their "off" side.

If a player only uses one side, or overwhelmingly favors one side, any college level defender should be able to shut them down, as they overplay them to their favorite side.

thanks, for a variety of reasons I have a gap in my knowledge of the women's game. I remember watching one years ago, and the girl had to stop, spin around and basically shovel it underhand to take advantage of being over played. I was told, the stick didn't work correctly in the other hand, (and thus it was a stick limitation, not a skill limitation).
For the record, your AD played Field Hockey, Basketball and softball while in HS. Most of all the other Field Hockey players, also played Lacrosse, the softball combination was an outlier. FWI.

 

[Tom McAndrew]

For the record, your AD played Field Hockey, Basketball and softball while in HS. Most of all the other Field Hockey players, also played Lacrosse, the softball combination was an outlier. FWI.

not that much of an outlier, depending on the years one was in high school, and where you went to high school. WLAX was not offered by a lot of high schools until the past decade. Even within the "hot" zones for WLAX, it was for many years primarily a sport played at private schools, and then a limited number of high schools.

While Sandy was born in Annapolis, MD, which is somewhat of a hotbed of LAX, her father was a career military man, and while growing up she lived all over the country as well as in Europe. I suspect that in many of the locations in which she lived while a kid, LAX was not offered in the local school.

 

[sluggo72]

not that much of an outlier, depending on the years one was in high school, and where you went to high school. WLAX was not offered by a lot of high schools until the past decade. Even within the "hot" zones for WLAX, it was for many years primarily a sport played at private schools, and then a limited number of high schools.

While Sandy was born in Annapolis, MD, which is somewhat of a hotbed of LAX, her father was a career military man, and while growing up she lived all over the country as well as in Europe. I suspect that in many of the locations in which she lived while a kid, LAX was not offered in the local school.

My point, and not to nit pick here, for the school Sandy attended for her Soph, Jr, and Sr yr, most of the girls that played field hockey also played lacrosse. Very few if any, played softball, and I believe softball was not even offered until her Junior yr. And at that time, it was a rag tag group of misfits coached by 2 guys who had a hard time knowing who was on first. OTOH the field hockey/lacrosse coach was top notch. Just a point here, in fact I was more surprised to find she didn't play lacrosse than if she had, she was a good field hockey player. From my view, it seems, most places that offer field hockey also offer lacrosse.

 

[PSUcup1]

Great news and good luck to the girls

But man, imo girls lacrosse is absolutely brutal. Used to go to games when at PSU my good friend from high school was on the team.

Ugh. Tough to watch. At the time PSU had an unreal offensive player, we used to ask her why she ever passed the ball. Opposing team literally could not stop her when she wanted to score

 

[sluggo72]

Great news and good luck to the girls

But man, imo girls lacrosse is absolutely brutal. Used to go to games when at PSU my good friend from high school was on the team.

Ugh. Tough to watch. At the time PSU had an unreal offensive player, we used to ask her why she ever passed the ball. Opposing team literally could not stop her when she wanted to score

well as mentioned, IMO, since they changed the head of the crosse( stick) the game is much more fun to watch, don't know when you were in school. Now if they would let them get down in the dirt to faceoff (draw) they might have something

 

[Tom McAndrew]

From my view, it seems, most places that offer field hockey also offer lacrosse.

sluggo, I'm not trying to give you a hard time -- I just think you're making sweeping generalities that are not based on fact.

let's focus solely on PA for this discussion, and forget about Sandy.

PA had been a hotbed of FH for more than a century. All of the top college FH programs recruit in PA.

When high schools started to offer girl's soccer in PA, the FH coaches were really concerned that soccer would be stealing from their pool of athletes, as both sports were played in the fall. To accommodate these concerns, the PIAA allowed schools to offer girl's soccer in either the fall or in the spring. Most schools (not all) that had really strong FH programs opted for spring soccer. In girl's soccer in PA, there was a state champ for the fall season and a state champ for the spring season (and a school could only elect to play in one season). The majority of the FH players would play spring soccer IF that's when soccer was offered by their high school.

About a decade ago, when LAX started to explode in PA in regions outside of SE PA, one of the problems WLAX faced was in the schools where they played spring soccer. It was tough for the schools to offer soccer and LAX as they were competing for the same group of athletes for players, AND the schools often did not have enough fields to accommodate soccer and LAX in the spring (as well as all the other spring sports). At that time LAX was not controlled by the PIAA. The PIAA then decided to take control of boy's and girl's LAX. Within 4 or 5 years of that, the PIAA announced that they were phasing out the option of girl's soccer being offered in the fall and the spring -- it would only be played in the fall.

So in some PA public schools which had been offering WLAX since the '70s, almost all of the FH players also played LAX. However, in those schools where women's soccer was offered in the spring, almost all of the FH players played soccer, and none of them played LAX as it wasn't offered.

 

[NewEra 2014]

- n

this past year was the first year in college WLAX where there was a shot clock. It's a 90 second clock. In the past, if a team had a lead of 2 or more goals, they might play a version of keep-away, or the equivalent of basketball four corners offense, where they would basically try to stall their way to victory. After gaining possession of the ball, a team has 90 seconds to take a shot, or the ball goes to the other team. If the attacking team takes a shot and it is blocked by the goalie, or hits the pipes of the net, then the close is reset. If the attacking team takes a shot that goes high or wide, the clock continues to count down.

I really think the men's college lax game needs a shot clock. 60 or 90 seconds would be fine, nothing too crazy. But right now, it is at the ref's discretion as to when a shot clock can be put on a men's team. Just an archaic, crazy way to attempt to keep play moving.

 

[sluggo72]

sluggo, I'm not trying to give you a hard time -- I just think you're making sweeping generalities that are not based on fact.

let's focus solely on PA for this discussion, and forget about Sandy.

PA had been a hotbed of FH for more than a century. All of the top college FH programs recruit in PA.

When high schools started to offer girl's soccer in PA, the FH coaches were really concerned that soccer would be stealing from their pool of athletes, as both sports were played in the fall. To accommodate these concerns, the PIAA allowed schools to offer girl's soccer in either the fall or in the spring. Most schools (not all) that had really strong FH programs opted for spring soccer. In girl's soccer in PA, there was a state champ for the fall season and a state champ for the spring season (and a school could only elect to play in one season). The majority of the FH players would play spring soccer IF that's when soccer was offered by their high school.

About a decade ago, when LAX started to explode in PA in regions outside of SE PA, one of the problems WLAX faced was in the schools where they played spring soccer. It was tough for the schools to offer soccer and LAX as they were competing for the same group of athletes for players, AND the schools often did not have enough fields to accommodate soccer and LAX in the spring (as well as all the other spring sports). At that time LAX was not controlled by the PIAA. The PIAA then decided to take control of boy's and girl's LAX. Within 4 or 5 years of that, the PIAA announced that they were phasing out the option of girl's soccer being offered in the fall and the spring.

So in some PA public schools which had been offering WLAX since the '70s, almost all of the FH players also played LAX. However, in those schools where women's soccer was offered in the spring, almost all of the FH players played soccer, and none of them played LAX as it wasn't offered.

For the record my frame of reference for Most of this was Baltimore/Annapolis area private schools, not Pa, not public. Circa 1975-1985. and then more specifically Severn School, where Sandy /Rowdy/Boo Boo attended HS
And for the most part, over the yrs there were more hockey/lacrosse female athletes than hockey/softball. That said SB sr yr there were 3 hockey/softball players After a change of coaches in women's LAX, softball almost died

Sandys SR yr the hockey team was undefeated.

 

[BobPSU92]

Do they call former lacrosse players ex-LAX?

 

[ChiTownLion]

This is awesome.

Any comment from @AWS1022? ;-)

 

[AWS1022]

This is awesome.

View embedded media

Any comment from @AWS1022? ;-)

Yay team?

 

[Judge Smails]

 

[MtNittany]

PSU Men's Golf is teeing it up tomorrow at the NCAA's at Rich Harvest Farms.