A corner is taken in field hockey when a foul is committed by the defensive team within the shooting circle. At this time 4 defensive players and the goalie will stand within the goal or 5 meters from the goal post behind the end line; the rest of the defensive team will run behind the 50 yard line. The defensive team will have one person inside the goal who is assigned the position of flying. The flyers job is to sprint to wherever the ball is hit and try to get it out of the circle before a shot is taken.
The offensive team will have all offensive players and mid fielders around the top of the circle and backing up the circle. The offensive team will have one injector who will stand at a mark 10 meters from the goal post on either side of the goal and insert the ball to a hitter who is standing on the outside of the circle. After inserting, the ball must leave the circle and then re-enter the circle in order to score.
A corner play gives the offensive team a big advantage and a great opportunity to score. On average a college field hockey team will have between 8-15 corners per game and score 10-20 percent of the time. Many teams come up with a few different corner plays to keep the defensive team thinking. If a corner play occurs as the time runs out the entire corner will be played out. This means that the play will continue with zero seconds left on the clock until the ball exits the circle twice (first when the ball is inserted and then the second time by the defense taking the ball out).
