Lacrosse is a team sport that is played with either ten players (men's field), six players (men's box), or twelve players (women's field), each of whom uses a netted stick (the crosse) in order to pass and catch a hard rubber ball with the aim of scoring goals (each worth one point traditionally, but Major League Lacrosse uses a two point goal for goals scored from a distance of 16 yards or greater from the goal) by propelling the ball into the opponent's goal. The team scoring the most points after two halves, of varying length from competition to competition, and overtime if necessary, wins.
Most popular in North America, lacrosse is Canada's national summer sport. It has grown in popularity in the United States, becoming the fastest growing sport at the high school and NCAA levels.
In its current form, men's lacrosse is played on a field of grass or artificial turf (such as FieldTurf). Each team is composed of 10 players on the field at a time: three attackmen, three midfielders, three defenders and one goaltender.