NCAA women’s lacrosse rules committees have proposed a simplified penalty system for the 2026-27 academic year, but the package is not yet official and still requires oversight approval.
The proposal would make every yellow card a two-minute, non-releasable penalty. Committees said the change is meant to match punishment more closely to the severity of a foul and improve consistency, safety and game administration.
Existing stick and body-contact fouls would be consolidated into clearer illegal-check and illegal-contact categories. Flopping would become a flagrant foul carrying a yellow card, while a new targeting foul would carry a red card.
The proposed targeting definition covers forcible contact made without a legitimate attempt to play the ball when the primary purpose is a hit with high potential for injury. A red card would still eject a player, but the automatic next-game suspension would be removed.
Video review requests would be limited to coaches, and officials would be directed to try to finish a review within two minutes. Reviews could also identify the correct offender whenever a card is administered.
Timing limits would apply: after a goal, an eligible request would have to arrive before the draw clock expires; during a timeout, it would have to be made in the first 30 seconds.
Other proposals include one stick check per quarter for players taking draws, stopping both clocks during official warnings and allowing an on-field stick exchange when neither player has the ball.
Fall experiments would test a 60-second possession clock after a draw instead of 90 seconds, reduce lineups from 12 players to 11 and try a backcourt-style restriction after the offense advances below the restraining line.
The committees’ recommendations are only one step in the rules process. The NCAA said all proposals must be approved before they become official, so teams should distinguish the published proposal from the eventual rulebook.