In the game of lacrosse there are ten players on each team.  Each team has a goalie, three attackmen, three defensemen and three midfielders

Attackmen (A)

The attackmen play on the offensive end of the field, near the opponent's goal, and try to: (1) dodge the defensemen playing against them and shoot on the goal; (2) pass to or FEED one of their teammates who will take a shot; or (3) cut to the goal to get a feed from one of their teammates.  If the goalie stops a shot or the defense otherwise get possession on the ball, the attackmen then must try to prevent the defense from CLEARING, by RIDING the defensive players that are trying to advance the ball up field. (all capitalized terms are defined on the Lax Terms page)

During a FACE-OFF, the three attackmen start behind the RESTRAINING LINE, which is a line that runs across the field and is 20 yards from the midfield line.  Once one of the teams gains possession after the face-off and the referee yells "possession," the attackmen are free to run up to the midfield line.  Attackmen cannot cross over the midfield line. If they do, they will be called OFFSIDES by the referee. The only exception is where a midfielder or defensemen on their team stays back on the offensive end of the field so that there are three players on the offensive half of the field.  In that case the attackmen could cross over the midfield line.

Defensemen (D)

Defensemen are charged with the job of protecting the goal by preventing the other team from scoring.  They will often have to play one-on-one defense against a dodging attackman and, when the guy they are playing does not have the ball, they have to slide towards the middle of the defense so they are in position to help their teammates.

In addition to trying to prevent the other team from scoring, defensemen also have to help CLEAR the ball, which means clear the ball from the defensive end of the field to the offensive end.  On a FACE-OFF the three defensemen must stay behind the RESTRAINING LINE, but they can cross over the RESTRAINING LINE and go to the midfield line after the FACE-OFF once one team gains possession of the ball and the referee yells "possession."

The referee will call "OFFSIDES" if there are not four players on the defensive side of the field when the balls moves to the offensive end. Generally, that means that the goalie and the three defensemen can not cross the midfield line. When you hear a coach or the players yelling "stay back" or "middie back," they are telling one of their teammates to stay on the defensive half of the field so a clearing defensemen or goalie can go over the midfield line.

Midfielders (M)

The Midfielders are the game's workhorses because they have to play both offense and defense and be able to run the entire length of the field.  There are three midfielders on the field at a time and, on the FACE-OFF, one midfielder takes the FACE-OFF, while the other two stand on the two WING LINES that are located to the sides of the FACE-OFF area and 10 yards from each sidelines.

If the other team gets possession of the ball on the FACE-OFF, the three midfielders or "middies" must drop back to the defensive side of the field and help their team by trying to stop the other team from scoring.  When playing team defense, the midfielder has two responsibilities.  He has to watch the guy he's playing against and be prepared to cover him if he cuts to the goal for a FEED, and he also has to be ready to SLIDE to help play defense if one of the other offensive players beats his man and is charging towards the goal.

When a Midfielder's team has the ball on the offensive half of the field, the midfielder with the ball will try to dodge and/or beat the man playing against him so he can have a shot on goal or be able to FEED one of his teammates who are cutting towards the goal.  Midfielders that do not have the ball, will cut hard to the goal to try and get a FEED from one of their teammates.

Goalies (G)

A goalie's job seems straightforward. His main task is to try and stop shots. But in the game of lacrosse, goalies play a much larger role. One of their most important jobs is to communicate to the midfielders and defensemen when the ball is in the defensive half of the field.  Because the midfielders and defensemen often have their backs to wherever the ball is they often do not know where it is on the field, and the goalie constantly needs to let them know where the ball is on the field. For example, you'll often hear goalies yelling "top left" or "top right." In those examples, the goalie is telling the defense that the ball is being held by the right or left offensive midfielder. Goalies must also let the defense know when they need to help by sliding, so you'll hear them yell "slide" or a special call sign they have for sliding, like "crash."

In addition to stopping shots and communicating with the defensemen and midfielders, the goalie must help CLEAR the ball. Like the defensemen, the goalie must stay on the defensive half of the field but can cross-over the midfield line if someone such as one of the midfielders on his team, stays back on the defensive side for him.

There are a few rules unique to goalies. For instance, if the goalie makes a save or otherwise gets possession of the ball in the CREASE, he cannot be checked by the opposing team and, if he is checked when in the process of making a clearing pass from within the CREASE, the referee will call INTERFERENCE on the player who checked him and the goalies team will be awarded a FREE CLEAR, which means they get to start with the ball on their side of the midfield line.  After he gains possession of the ball, a goalie has 4 seconds to get the ball outside of the CREASE, either by passing or running it out.  If the goalie fails to get the ball out of the CREASE within 4 seconds, the ball will be awarded to the other team.