After at least two decades of discussion, men’s college lacrosse is getting two things fans have been clamoring for — a shot clock and the return of the dive.

The NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Committee met in Indianapolis this week and voted on several rule changes for the 2019 season. All recommendations need to be approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Committee next month. The full press release from the NCAA with rule changes is available here.

The shot clock will feature a 60-second clock that will not start until teams cross midfield. Teams will have 20 seconds to clear the ball from their defensive end after gaining possession and the shot clock will begin once they cross midfield. Any reset of the clock (save, shot hitting pipe, or a defensive infraction) will go back to 60 seconds.

“It was clear to the committee that the majority of the lacrosse community felt strongly that a shot clock was needed to properly manage today’s game,” said Rob Randall, chair of the committee and head coach at Nazareth. “In our discussions, we debated many different options and reviewed the experiments that took place in the fall. Ultimately, we believe our proposal will continue the evolution of our sport.”

The committee also reinstituted the dive with the caveat that the offensive player may not dive towards the goal.

The official language reads: “If a player leaves his feet under his own volition in a direction away from the goal mouth and the ball enters the goal before he touches the crease, the goal will count. Additionally, a player that dives in the direction of the goal mouth will receive a one-minute penalty.”

"Again, the membership was strongly supportive of finding ways to reward some extremely athletic moves around the goal,” Randall said. “The committee believes it has achieved this, while continuing to protect the players.”

In other recommendations, the committee identified sportsmanship as a point of emphasis, reduced the substitution box from 20 yards to 10 yards and called for the release of a shot at the end of the shot clock and game clock a reviewable play during the NCAA Division I championship.

The addition of the shot clock was overwhelmingly lauded in the instant reaction on social media:

20 seconds to cross the midline...60 second shot clock. Add the box getting shrunk to 10 yards...game will be . Refs can call games and not have to dictate pace of play...and get yelled at less. Win for all! https://t.co/ILW8qz4Ser

— Paul Carcaterra (@paulcarcaterra) August 10, 2018

#ShotClock pic.twitter.com/79qC7D6LrD

— Ryder Garnsey (@rsgarnz) August 10, 2018

Congratulations college lacrosse. 20 seconds to get over the equator, then a 60-second shot clock will begin. Any reset (save, pipe, defensive infraction) will reset to 60. Cleaner than having 90 seconds of running clock (via @RPDLacrosse). Excited to watch. We just got better.

— Paul Rabil (@PaulRabil) August 10, 2018

Just landed and saw the news about the shot clock.

Great for the sport and the 2019 college season is going to be fun to watch! pic.twitter.com/01TadKxWzw

— Jake Bernhardt (@jak3bernhardt) August 10, 2018

However, at least one Division I coach said off the record with a tone of worry, “We have significantly changed the game in my opinion.”

Coaches also had mixed reactions when the shot clock was experimented with during fall events last year.