PLC Fall Championships

PLC RULES OF PLAY

Scoring and Time

Refs keep game time
The table keeps the score and penalty time
Tournament Play – Pool Play (Saturday Games)

2 – 21 minutes halves
3- minute halftime
3 game guarantee (Pool Play)
No Timeouts
No Overtime
2024 NFHS Rules with modifications below

Playoff Rules (Sunday)

2 – 21 minutes halves
3- minute halftime
Playoff Games…
Teams are awarded (1) one-minute time-out per team in Regulation Time
The clock will stop. Timeout does NOT roll over to OT.  No timeouts in OT
A timeout can be called when the team calling the timeout is in possession of the ball, anywhere on the field
Overtime will begin immediately and be decided by sudden victory.  OT will have a Running Clock on all whistles.  The first goal scored wins the game.
Injuries
Any injury within 2 minutes and under that requires the game to be stopped, the clock stops with the injury.
For any injury with more than 2 minutes remaining when the game is stopped, a maximum of 1 minute will come off the clock to assess the injury before the clock is stopped

BOYS SPECIFIC RULES

No stick checks unless refs think a stick is outrageously illegal
4 pole maximum on the field
Mercy Rule
(applies to 2032 and below) Applied when there is a 5-goal deficit in pool play.  Teams down by 5 or more goals will get a free clear after each goal.  Coaches can agree to waive this rule.
Counts
30 seconds to advance the ball into the box (Pool Play and Playoffs)
2025 – 2031 Grad Years:  Clearing Counts.
No Counts – 2032 Grad Year and below.  Exception is a 4-second goalie count
Championship/Playoff Games Only:  The leading team must keep it in the box under 2 minutes if they are ahead by 2 goals or less.
If a score changes to 2 goals or less under 2 minutes the clock will stop and start with the whistles
If teams are ahead by 3 goals or more, the clock will remain running
Checking
Limited body checking in 2029 – 2031.  Big hits & physical play (even within three yards of a loose ball) constitute unnecessary roughness (90 sec penalty)
One-handed stick checks are not allowed in any youth divisions (2033 and below)
Penalties
Penalties are running time starting on the whistle (45 or 90 seconds)  Penalty time stops during injuries, end of quarters, and while another penalty is being assessed.

Fouls
First 3 team fouls will be assessed as warnings. The player who committed the foul will be subbed off for a new player.
After 3rd team fouls, instead of warning/substitution players will be assessed a penalty and serve time/team will play man-down.
Technical penalties will be 45 seconds and personal penalties will be 90 seconds
Championships Games Only
No warnings/substitutions. All fouls will be time served/man-down.
Additional Rules
No long poles
No counts on clears
No passing attempt needs to be made for a player to shoot
Over & Back does apply. Once a team clears the ball over the midfield they need to keep possession in the offensive zone. Failing to do so will result in a whistle + turnover.

EJECTIONS

Game ejections are handled by the referees
Tournament ejections are handled by the tournament director (2 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties warrant ejection or 1-game suspension)

RANKINGS:

Win = 3 points
Loss = 0 points
Tie = 1 point
In the event that a team needs to play a 4th pool game in order to give a second team their 3rd game:
The 4th game will be identified and acknowledged with a ‘*’ on Tourney Machine
The 4th game will not count for any potential points or Goals Against for the team playing their 4th game
For the team playing their 3rd game, the results will count for points and goals against
In the event that there is a tiebreaker scenario, which includes a teams head-to-head being their fourth game, that has been identified with ‘*’ the head-to-head will NOT be applied.
In the event, a team is declared a winner due to forfeit
For ranking purposes, the goals against average for the pool play games will be the average of the games that were completed
Team A wins, 10-8 and 12-8, and then forfeit is 1--0.  Their average of 8 GA will be used to rank
Tie Breakers

If 2 teams are tied with POINTS:

Head to Head
Goals Against TOTAL
Goals Against Common Opponent.  If multiple common opponents, take the sum.
If more than 2 teams tied with POINTS:

If 1 team beats the other 2 teams - that team will advance and the second 2 will fall back into tiebreaker rules
Goals Against Total
Goals Against Common Opponent (only used if all teams played a common opponent.  If multiple common opponents, take the sum)
Coin Toss/Braveheart
If a team is still tied after these tie-breakers and is eligible for the championship playoff bracket, a Braveheart may be used to determine who advances.  The tournament director will determine the scheduling of a braveheart based on fields and availability

ROSTERING

All players must be registered and can only play for 1 team, unless approved by the event director, in each event.
Unregistered players are considered ineligible for play and if found may result in a team forfeiting games and player ejection from the event.
Any teams who are found moving players or playing with ineligible players may forfeit that game and possibly any others already played.
Procedure for Player Eligibility Challenge

Player eligibility challenge will only be accepted by Club Directors or Head Coach

When there is a player in question during a game:

The Field Marshall will alert the Pod Manager and provide the pod manager with
Team
Player first and last name
Player jersey number
Pod manager will relay info to HQ for registration check
HQ will review League Apps registration
If a player is:
Registered and within the age guidelines
challenge denied
Not registered but within the age guidelines
suspended until player is registered by a parent
Registered and outside of the age guidelines
Player removed from game immediately
Game will continue to be played
Tournament director will make decision on future eligibility of player and if necessary to have team forfeit game
Not Registered and Outside the age guidelines
Player removed from game immediately
Game will continue to be played
Tournament director will make decision on future eligibility of player and if necessary to have team forfeit game