Field lacrosse offensive purpose while controlling the ball, the possessing team must keep the ball within the offensive restraining box to avoid a loss-of-possession penalty. Field markings dictate player positioning during a face-off. A face-off is how play is started at the beginning of each quarter and after each goal. During a face-off, there are six players (without considering goalkeepers) in each of the areas defined by the restraining lines. Three midfielders from each team occupy the midfield area, while three attackmen and three of the opposing team's defensemen occupy each offensive area. These players must stay in these areas until possession
Box lacrosse two referees: a lead official and a trail official. In NLL games there are three officials per game. The goaltender's responsibility is to prevent the opposition from scoring goals by directly defending the net. Box lacrosse goaltenders equipment includes upper body gear (measuring no more than up and out off the shoulder—much larger than similar gear for field lacrosse or ice hockey goaltenders), large shin guards that must measure no more than at the knee, at the top of the shin and at the ankle, and a field lacrosse helmet or ice hockey goalie mask. The to radius area surrounding