Football has the coin flip. Basketball has the jump ball. Men’s lacrosse, however, has the faceoff to initiate the start of the game and decide who first holds possession. Unlike other sports, however, a lacrosse faceoff does not simply begin the game; it is used at the start of the second half, as well as after a score.
One key difference between lacrosse and other sports is that at no point will possessions decided by faceoffs necessarily balance out. For example, in football, if a team does not win the coin toss, it still receives the ball in either in the first or second half.
Faceoffs “are really important,” senior long-stick midfielder Mike Timms said. “It’s one of the few sports where after you score you have a chance of getting the ball back. It can really make a difference in terms of going on runs.”
In a game, a team can gain control of the ball by winning one faceoff after the other, which proves important in a sport like lacrosse in which possessions are long and the scoring is relatively low. In Virginia’s game against Dartmouth, for example, Dartmouth won nine of 10 faceoffs in the first half and led the Cavaliers 5-3 at halftime. Virginia ended up winning the game with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter, winning eight of 10 faceoffs during the unanswered scoring streak.
The faceoff occurs at the center of field between three players from each team. Two line up at each wing along the midfield line with the third lining up at the “X,” which is located in between the two wings. Two players from each team face each other in a crouch position and line their sticks up parallel to the midfield line along the ground. The ball is placed between the two and the referee’s whistle starts the play.
“Every time you take one, it’s the opportunity to create a turnover and take possession,” senior faceoff man Chad Gaudet said. “It’s kind of like a game of rock-paper-scissors in that there are three basic moves that everyone goes with.”
Because faceoffs can make or break a lacrosse game, knowing how to handle a faceoff takes skill. At the collegiate level, teams often possess one or two players whose sole role on the team is to win faceoffs. For the Cavaliers, Gaudet plays the unique role. He chooses between three different moves each time he is part of a faceoff.
“First there is the clamp, that’s the most common,” he said. “Second is the rake ... and the third move is the jam. The jam beats the clamp, and the rake beats the jam.”
The clamp works exactly the way it sounds: the player tries to clamp his stick onto the ball as quickly as possible after play starts. The rake involves using the stick to bring the ball out into the open before an opponent can get control of it. A jam is a counter-move in which a player tries to hold an opponent back by bringing his hands and stick over the ball and tangling up the opponent’s tries at gaining possession.
One unique aspect of Gaudet’s faceoff strategy is that he uses a long stick — one a close defender would use — as opposed to the more common short stick.
“I’m not that great on the actual draw,” Gaudet said. “But as long as I can get the guy to put the ball in certain place, I can have a pretty good chance to get there or knock it out of his stick. Then you have Mike Timms coming from the other side.”
The draw is the portion of the faceoff that occurs immediately after the official’s whistle and is comprised primarily of play between the two faceoff men as they struggle to gain an edge. After the whistle is blown, however, the wing men — usually Timms in Virginia’s case — are allowed to leave their respective ends of the field to join the fight for the ball.
“The most important part is your actual faceoff guy and how well he can control where the ball is going and where the draw is going,” Timms said. “We do different things on the wings depending on what the other guy facing off is doing. We try to match out strategies best to stop that. You always want to be kind of in control of the guy on the wing next to you.”
Once either team gains possession of the ball — even if it is for a split second — the rest of the players on the field are “released” and allowed to join the fray.
Considering the number of goals scored in the average lacrosse game, the ability to win faceoffs contributes significantly to a match’s outcome. In a close game, an edge in the faceoff department means more possessions more scoring opportunities.
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