Women's Lacrosse

The rules of women's lacrosse differ significantly from men's lacrosse and are specifically designed to allow much less physical contact between players. The women's game requires very little protective gear, although eye goggles are now required for NCAA women's competition. The pockets of a woman's stick are more shallow, making the ball harder to catch or more difficult to shoot fast. Women play with three attackmen, three defencemen, one goalie, and five midfielders. The University of Maryland, College Park has historically dominated the American collegiate women's game, producing innumerable coaches (who now work to spread the game), and many U.S. national team players. The Lady Terps also created an NCAA championship dynasty spanning decades (which has waned since 2001). The game is also popular in Australia, and is commonly played in English girls' private schools.

Women's intercollegiate lacrosse stars have included Maryland standout Kelly Amonte-Hiller, coach of the current national championship team from Northwestern University, and all-time scoring leader Jen Adams, also of the University of Maryland, College Park.