College lacrosse
College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League, while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Junior College Athletic Association and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport and programs in Japan.
In the U.S., as of the 2019–20 academic year, there were 74 NCAA-sanctioned Division I men's lacrosse teams, 75 Division II men's lacrosse teams, and 248 Division III men's lacrosse teams. There are 117 Division I women's lacrosse teams, 114 Division II women's lacrosse teams, and 293 Division III women's lacrosse teams. There were also 21 men's programs and 11 women's programs at two-year community colleges organized by the National Junior College Athletic Association and a growing number of National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics four-year small college programs.
As of 2016–17, there were 184 collegiate men's club teams competing through the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association, including most major universities in the United States without NCAA men's programs, organized into two divisions and ten conferences. Schools that feature an NCAA Division I FBS football team must play in Division 1, while most other teams compete in Division 2. There are 225 collegiate club teams for women organized by the Women's Collegiate Lacrosse Associates.
History of college lacrosse
The first intercollegiate game in the United States was played on November 22, 1877 between New York University and Manhattan College. Lacrosse had been introduced in upstate New York in the 1860s. Lacrosse was further introduced to the Baltimore area in the 1890s. These two areas continue to be hotbeds of college lacrosse in the U.S. An organizing body for the sport, the U. S. National Amateur Lacrosse Association, was founded in 1879. The first intercollegiate lacrosse tournament was held in 1881, with Harvard beating Princeton, 3–0, in the championship game. New York University and Columbia University also participated. In 1882 three colleges formed a league called the Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, which four other colleges soon joined. From this point through 1931, collegiate lacrosse associations chose an annual champion based on season records. In 1894, the Inter-University Lacrosse League began play using slightly different rules.The two leagues merged in December 1905 to form the 8-team United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse League. The USILL was a closed-membership league, which excluded several lacrosse powers, such as the U.S. Naval Academy. The national championship was officially bestowed only upon teams that were included in the membership of these organizations. In 1912, the USILL established Northern and Southern Divisions and began conducting a post-season playoff. Harvard defeated Swarthmore, 7–3, in the first formal playoff. This system continued through 1925. As Navy was not a member of the USILL, its teams were not eligible for the championship, even though Navy had the best collegiate record in many of those years. Navy was undefeated from 1917 through 1923, a stretch of 40 games with one tie.
The USILL was replaced by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association in March, 1926, as an open-membership governing body. Six more teams became new USILA members, in addition to the former USILL teams. The USILA bestowed gold medals upon the teams that it selected as national champions through the 1931 season. No official champions were named from 1932 through 1935. In 1936, an award was established in the memory of a Baltimore sportswriter to recognize annually the most outstanding teams. From 1936 through 1972, the USILA executive board awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy to the national champions.
From at least 1951, if not earlier, lacrosse divisions were officially named after legendary lacrosse-men. These were the Cy Miller, Laurie D. Cox, and Roy Taylor Divisions. They were more commonly referred to Division I, or A; Division II, or B; and Division III, or C. All college teams were placed in one of the three divisions, dependent upon their records, schedules, and success for the preceding five years, and a point system was created. Any team of the three divisions was eligible to win the national championship, but this was virtually impossible for non-Division I teams. A Division II team, playing several Division I teams, might have been able to achieve it. A team's record was required to include six games against teams in its own division. Teams were realigned every three years, again reflecting their records. All schools were eligible for the national rankings. The team that achieved the highest point total each year, however, was not guaranteed a solo national championship. The system served as guidance to the USILA executive board, who chose co-champions on frequent occasions. This point system prevailed with modifications until the NCAA in the early 1970s established the playoff system for determining champions.
At its 1969 annual meeting in Baltimore, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association voted for its first playoff tournament to determine a national champion. In 1971, the NCAA began sponsoring men's lacrosse and began holding an annual championship tournament for Division I schools. The USILA conducted a small college tournament for non-Division I schools in 1972 and 1973. In 1974, the NCAA took over the sponsorship of this tournament through the 1979 season, with separate tournaments being conducted in both 1980 and 1981 for Divisions II and III teams. The Division II tournament then was discontinued until returning in 1993.
Scholarships
In some circumstances, D-1 schools can offer several scholarships that cover up to 50% of tuition costs. As of 2018, the average awarded D-1 men's lacrosse scholarship is about $12,000 a year.NCAA Men's Lacrosse
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is the largest association and governing body of collegiate athletics in the United States. The NCAA holds lacrosse championships for all three Divisions in men's and women's lacrosse. Currently the NCAA has 397 men's lacrosse programs and 524 women's lacrosse programs.Division I Men's Lacrosse
Division I men's lacrosse currently has the smallest number of teams compared to the Division II and Division III levels. The 2020 NCAA lacrosse season, canceled in progress due to coronavirus concerns, involved 74 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse teams, with 71 of them organized into 10 conferences, and three teams playing as independent D-I programs without a conference affiliation. These teams are heavily concentrated in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, and only four teams are not in the Eastern Time Zone.From 1936 through 1970 the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association selected the Wingate Memorial Trophy winners as national champions based on regular season records. Beginning in 1971, the National Collegiate Athletic Association began holding an annual championship tournament.
The most recent national champions from 2019 are the Virginia Cavaliers.
The most recent changes to men's lacrosse conferences occurred in the 2014 off-season. The Big Ten Conference sponsored the sport for the first time in 2015. The Big Ten move, along with other changes stemming from the early-2010s NCAA conference realignment, led to the demise of ECAC Lacrosse. The Southern Conference took over men's lacrosse sponsorship from the Atlantic Sun Conference, which itself had only added the sport for the 2013–14 school year. This was a friendly takeover, as the two conferences had agreed in January 2014 to form a lacrosse alliance under which they would divide lacrosse sponsorship, with men's shifting to the SoCon and women's remaining with the ASUN.
In September 2018 the NCAA rules committee implemented an 80-second shot clock that begins upon possession. A team must advance the ball across midfield within the first 20 seconds, and then 60 seconds to shoot the ball once across midfield. The clock will only reset if the ball hits the goalie or the post. Failure to score before the shot clock runs out results in a change of possession.
;Conferences
- America East Conference
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Big East Conference
- Big Ten Conference
- Colonial Athletic Association
- Independents — Three schools, all relatively new varsity programs, were independents in the abbreviated 2020 season. Former independent NJIT began play in the Northeast Conference.
- * Cleveland State — Added lacrosse for the 2017 season.
- * Hampton — Added lacrosse for the 2016 season. Hampton does not play a full varsity schedule yet, with all of their wins coming against D-III and junior college programs. For the 2020 season, Hampton was set to play 8 teams from Division I, 2 from Division II, and 2 from Division III.
- * Utah – Added lacrosse for the 2019 season.
- Ivy League
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Northeast Conference
- Patriot League
- Southern Conference
Division II Men's Lacrosse
NCAA Division II lacrosse programs are organized into eight conferences, as well as independent programs consisting of mainly new D-II lacrosse teams. The newest addition to the roster of Division II men's lacrosse conferences came in 2017–18 when the Great Lakes Valley Conference began sponsoring men's lacrosse.
On December 2, 2014; the University of Alabama In Huntsville announced the additional of Men's and Women's Lacrosse programs. These programs began competition with the 2016 season, initially as independents.
The most recent Division II men's national champions are the Merrimack Warriors, which could not defend their title as they began a transition to Division I immediately after the 2019 season.
Conferences:
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
- Conference Carolinas
- East Coast Conference
- Great Lakes Valley Conference
- Great Midwest Athletic Conference
- Independents
- Northeast-10 Conference
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- South Atlantic Conference
- Sunshine State Conference
Division III Men's Lacrosse
NCAA Division III lacrosse programs are organized into 24 conferences and over 20 independent programs.
The defending Division III national champions are the Cabrini Cavaliers.
Conferences:
- Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
- Capital Athletic Conference
- Centennial Conference
- College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
- Colonial States Athletic Conference
- Commonwealth Coast Conference
- Empire 8 Athletic Conference
- Great Northeast Athletic Conference
- Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Independents
- Landmark Conference
- Liberty League
- Little East Conference
- Middle Atlantic Conference
- Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Midwest Lacrosse Conference
- New England Collegiate Conference
- New England Small College Athletic Conference
- New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
- North Atlantic Conference
- North Coast Athletic Conference
- North Eastern Athletic Conference
- Ohio Athletic Conference
- Old Dominion Athletic Conference
- Presidents' Athletic Conference
- Skyline Conference
- Southern Athletic Association
- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
- State University of New York Athletic Conference
- USA South Athletic Conference
NCAA Women's Lacrosse
Division I Women's Lacrosse
The NCAA began sponsoring a women's lacrosse championship in 1982. Lacrosse has grown into 117 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse teams organized into 16 conferences. Only 13 programs are located outside the Eastern Time Zone—Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Denver, six Pac-12 Conference members, and four California schools outside the Pac-12. Of these 13 schools, only Denver also sponsors varsity men's lacrosse.The most recent change to the lineup of women's lacrosse conferences came during the 2020 offseason, when the Mid-American Conference added women's lacrosse for the 2021 season.
The newest Division I women's lacrosse school is Youngstown State, which starts play in the 2021 season as a single-sport member of the MAC. Two other schools will begin play in the 2022 season, both playing the sport in their respective all-sports homes—Eastern Michigan in the MAC and Pittsburgh in the ACC.
The defending Division I national champions are the Maryland Terrapins.
Conferences:
- America East Conference
- American Athletic Conference
- Atlantic Sun Conference
- Atlantic 10 Conference
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Big East Conference
- Big South Conference
- Big Ten Conference
- Colonial Athletic Association
- Independents – No D-I school has played as a women's lacrosse independent since the 2018 season.
- Ivy League
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Mid-American Conference
- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
- Northeast Conference
- Pac-12 Conference
- Patriot League
- Southern Conference
Division II Women's Lacrosse
The 114 NCAA Division II women's lacrosse programs are organized into 10 conferences, as well as independent programs.
The defending Division II national champion is Adelphi.
Conferences:
- Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference
- Conference Carolinas
- East Coast Conference
- Great Lakes Valley Conference
- Gulf South Conference
- Independents
- Mountain East Conference
- Northeast-10 Conference
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- South Atlantic Conference
- Sunshine State Conference
Division III Women's Lacrosse
The defending Division III national champions are the Middlebury Panthers.
Conferences:
- Capital Athletic Conference
- Centennial Conference
- College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
- Colonial States Athletic Conference
- Commonwealth Coast Conference
- Empire 8
- Great Northeast Athletic Conference
- Independents
- Landmark Conference
- Liberty League
- Little East Conference
- Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Middle Atlantic Conference
- Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference
- New England Collegiate Conference
- New England Small College Athletic Conference
- New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
- New Jersey Athletic Conference
- North Atlantic Conference
- North Coast Athletic Conference
- North Eastern Athletic Conference
- Ohio Athletic Conference
- Ohio River Lacrosse Conference
- Old Dominion Athletic Conference
- Skyline Conference
- Southern Athletic Association
- Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
- State University of New York Athletic Conference
- USA South Athletic Conference
NAIA Lacrosse
NJCAA Lacrosse
The National Junior College Athletic Association is the primary governing body of community college athletic programs in the USA and currently oversees 21 men's and 11 women's lacrosse programs predominately in the Northeastern United States. The NJCAA lacrosse programs do not compete in their regular conferences, but instead are ranked within their NJCAA Regions. The NJCAA has sponsored a men's lacrosse championship since 1970 and a women's lacrosse championship since 2004. There are also new lacrosse programs at community colleges that are not members of the NJCAA, such as the California Community College Athletic Association, which does not sponsor the sport at this time.Men's Club Lacrosse
Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA)
The Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association, formerly known as the US Lacrosse Men’s Division of Intercollegiate Associates, is a national organization of non-NCAA, college men's lacrosse programs. The MCLA was created by the MDIA Board of Directors and its creation was announced by US Lacrosse on August 24, 2006. The MCLA oversees play and conducts national championships for 184 non-NCAA men's lacrosse programs in 10 conferences and in two divisions throughout the country.The defending National Champions at the MCLA Division 1 Level are the Grand Canyon University Antelopes. The Division II National Champions are the Concordia-Irvine Eagles.
Conferences:
- Central Collegiate Lacrosse Association
- Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference
- Lone Star Alliance
- Pacific Northwest Collegiate Lacrosse League
- Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League
- Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference
- Southeastern Lacrosse Conference
- Southwestern Lacrosse Conference
- Upper Midwest Lacrosse Conference
- Western Collegiate Lacrosse League
National College Lacrosse League (NCLL)
Conferences:
- Blue Ridge Conference
- Capitol Conference
- Chesapeake Conference
- Deep South Lacrosse Conference
- Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
- Empire East Conference
- Empire West Conference
- Keystone Conference
- Liberty Conference
- Midwest North Conference
- Midwest South Conference
- NY Metro Conference
- Tidewater Conference
Other U.S. college club lacrosse leagues
- Great Lakes Lacrosse League
- California Junior College Lacrosse Association
Women's Club Lacrosse