Faceoff Percentage in Lacrosse, Explained
Every possession in lacrosse starts with a fight. The faceoff decides who gets the ball, and over a full game those wins pile up into extra shots, extra chances, and often the final margin. Faceoff percentage is the single number that tells you who owns that battle. Here is how it is calculated, what a good mark looks like, and the possession stats that turn faceoff wins into goals.
4 min read · Reviewed July 2026
What faceoff percentage measures
A faceoff opens the game and follows every goal. Two players crouch over the ball at midfield, the whistle blows, and they fight to control it. Faceoff percentage is simply how often a player or team comes out with the ball.
The math is a plain success rate. Divide the faceoffs a player won by the number he took, and you get his FO%. It works the same for one specialist or for a whole team over a season.
Statside computes FO% automatically. Log each faceoff as won or lost during live entry, and the rate updates on the player page and the season leaderboard in real time.
Faceoff % = Faceoffs Won ÷ Faceoffs Taken
- ·Faceoffs Won = clamps the player controlled off the whistle
- ·Faceoffs Taken = total faceoffs the player lined up for
A worked example
Say your faceoff specialist lines up for 24 draws in a game and wins 15 of them. Divide 15 by 24 and you get 0.625, or 62.5%.
That is elite work. A strong faceoff man sits at 60% or better, which means he hands his offense the ball on nearly two of every three draws. Slip under 50% and you are giving the opponent more possessions than you get, and in a low-scoring sport that gap decides games.
15 faceoffs won ÷ 24 faceoffs taken = 0.625, a 62.5% faceoff rate.
The possession stats that finish the job
Winning the clamp is only step one. The ball still has to be secured off the ground, and that is where ground balls come in. A ground ball is credited when a player gains possession of a loose ball, and faceoff specialists rack up huge ground ball totals because so many draws end in a scrum.
On defense, caused turnovers are the mirror image. A caused turnover is credited when a defender's action, a check, a poke, a jarring hit, forces the other team to cough up the ball. Ground balls win the loose ones. Caused turnovers create them. Track both and you can see which team actually controls possession, not just who won the whistle.
Box and field track it a little differently
Field lacrosse and box lacrosse both open with a faceoff, so FO% is calculated the exact same way in each: wins over draws taken.
The possession language around it shifts. Field lacrosse credits ground balls for securing loose balls. Box lacrosse, played on a tighter floor, often logs the same recoveries as loose balls. Different label, same idea: who dug the ball out of traffic and came up with it. Statside keeps the faceoff math identical across both and records the loose-ball recoveries under each sport's convention.
Why faceoff percentage swings games
Lacrosse rewards volume. More possessions mean more shots, and more shots mean more goals. A specialist winning 65% of draws can hand his team a double-digit edge in possessions over a game, and that edge often outweighs a single hot shooter.
That is why coaches obsess over the faceoff X and why FO% sits next to goals and assists on any serious stat sheet. Pair it with ground balls and caused turnovers, and you have the full possession picture in three numbers.
Key takeaways
- Faceoff % = Faceoffs Won ÷ Faceoffs Taken, the same formula in field and box lacrosse.
- A great faceoff mark is 60% or higher; below 50% means you are losing the possession battle.
- Ground balls (loose balls in box) and caused turnovers are the possession stats that turn faceoff wins into goals.
- More possessions mean more shots, so a dominant faceoff man can hand his team a double-digit possession edge.
- Statside logs each draw won or lost and updates FO% live on player pages and the season leaderboard.
Frequently asked
How do you calculate faceoff percentage in lacrosse?
Divide faceoffs won by faceoffs taken. If a player wins 15 of 24 draws, that is 15 ÷ 24 = 0.625, or a 62.5% faceoff rate. Statside computes it automatically as you log each draw.
What is a good faceoff percentage in lacrosse?
60% or better is elite. It means the specialist hands his offense the ball on nearly two of every three draws. Anything under 50% means the opponent is getting more possessions than you.
What possession stats matter most in lacrosse?
Ground balls and caused turnovers. Ground balls credit securing a loose ball, and caused turnovers credit forcing the other team to lose it. Together with faceoff percentage they show who really controls possession.
Do box and field lacrosse track faceoffs differently?
The faceoff percentage math is identical: wins over draws taken. The difference is in the possession label. Field lacrosse credits ground balls for loose-ball recoveries, while box lacrosse often logs them as loose balls.