Boston University moved to 3-1 during the 2024 men’s college lacrosse season with a win over Brown on Tuesday night. The Terriers scored 16 goals en route to victory over the Bears in Providence.
It was a good win for a college lacrosse program that hopes to compete for a third-straight Patriot League title.
However, the biggest topic of conversation from the game stemmed from a brief exchange during the second quarter. An illegal body check has sparked debate about whether lacrosse has become soft.
Sophomore attack Jimmy Kohr played the ball just beyond midfield and tried to push past the restraining line for Boston. He stands 6-foot-1, 190 pounds. Brown sophomore midfielder P.J. Behan — who is one inch taller and 15 pounds heavier — stepped up and laid the wood.
It was a slobberknocker. Kohr had barely picked his head up before Behan laid him out with a bone-crushing hit.
The announcers were animated in the booth and the Bears bench went bonkers.
The officials immediately blew the play dead. They issued penalty for an illegal bodycheck. Kohr was forced to sit for two minutes and the Terriers played a man down.
However, the college lacrosse hit has sparked debate.
Was it clean?!
Huge hit in this Brown-BU contest, deemed a two-min nonreleaseable illegal bodycheck pic.twitter.com/Rx3cr5X7nZ
— Kevin Brown (@kevbrown89) February 20, 2024
A body check must include contact between the shoulders and the waist. It cannot be directed at a player’s head or neck area and must be done in a controlled manner.
On one end of the discussion, some fans believe that Behan’s hit was as by-the-book as it gets. He had both hands on his stick and maintained control. Kohr was not in a compromised position. The bang-bang play was exactly what you would want to see from a clean body check.
On the other end of the discussion, some fans (and the referees) believe that the hit was delivered with too much force. It also appeared as though Behan might have made contact with Kohr’s head. Thus, a penalty was assessed.
You be the judge!