The NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Rules Committee adopted the first rules manuscript specifically for the collegiate level at its June 19-23 meeting in Indianapolis.

The committee’s proposals must be considered by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel before final implementation.

The committee made three noteworthy changes from US Lacrosse rules, used previously as the template for NCAA rules.

First, the committee decided to strengthen its progressive-penalty rules. In the new rule, when a team receives its third card (yellow or red), each subsequent card (yellow or red) results in the penalized player leaving the field, but the penalized team is not allowed a substitute for that player.

"The change has been proposed in the past and is designed to discourage rough play and unsporting behavior," said Karen Borbee, chair of the committee and head coach/senior woman administrator at Swarthmore College. "We are making this adjustment to manage our game and properly penalize teams that consistently violate the rules."

The committee also added a rule that allows attacking players to follow through in the goal crease in shooting situations. The provision that has been used successfully in international play requires the shot to be initiated beyond the goal crease. While defending the shooter, the defensive player(s) also is allowed to reach in the crease to check or block a shot. Consistent with previous rules, neither player is allowed to step into the crease at any time.

To address the problem of time loss in the game, the committee voted to stop the clock on all major defensive fouls in the eight-meter arc that result in a free position. Officials will be required to signal a time out while they set up the free position.

"We reviewed numerous proposals in this area, including adding time to the game," Borbee said. "This change addresses the issue at the point of the game where we lose the most time."

In other actions, the committee voted: