Extra Man Offense – Against a Box and One MDD

By: Jack Kaley and Rich Donovon

Originally Published in: Lacrosse Essentials

Provided by: Human Kinetics

A defensive set some teams use against the 3-3 set is the box and one. In this defense, one man, usually the short-stick midfielder, plays the crease man to man. The other four long-pole defensemen either play zone or a four-man rotation against the remaining five perimeter players. The key to beating the rotation of the defenseman is quick ball movement. It is difficult for the defenseman to defend against a quickly moving offense. (See figure 10.4).

In a box-and-one zone defense, stay in a 3-3 for a while to see whether you can get a feed in the skip lanes from the top middle player (M2) to either the bottom left-handed attackman (A1) or the bottom right-handed attackman (A2). If not, continue your extra-man offense, which is a series of cuts from a 3-3-3 to a 1-3-2 into a 1-4-1.

From a 3-3 set, the top middle player (M2) passes to the top left-handed player (M1) who passes to the bottom left-handed attackman (A1). The A1 has rotated slightly higher and looks to M2 cutting onside (see figure 10.5a). If not open, A1 passes up top to M1 (see figure 10.5b). M1 checks inside for openings. If he finds none, M1 immediately passes back to A1 (see figure 10.6) who looks inside.

If there are no openings, A1 dumps the ball to M2, who is now at the goal line extended in an overload. If the defenseman stays with A1, then M2 (if open) can shoot. The only defensive slides to cover M2 are either the off-wing defenseman, leaving Al possibly open, or the crease defenseman, leaving the creaseman open. If M2 has nothing on the overload, he passes the ball back to A1, who continues moving the ball clockwise around the perimeter. Meanwhile, M2 has rotated to X and is positioning himself to come around the cage for a sneak dodge or feed. The top right-handed player (M3) has rotated to the middle of the field where he got the ball from Ml. He looks inside. If there are no openings, he passes the ball to the bottom right-handed player (A2), who has moved up into the area that M3 vacated. A2 is in a shooting position and has the option to shoot if open and if not, A2 looks to M2. M2 has the option to shoot if open or to feed M1, who is cutting down to the offside pipe. M2's other option is the creaseman on the offside. If no one is open, you have rotated from a 1-3-2 into a 1-4-1.