Lax: fewer assists from behind the cage?

Am I imagining, or have defenses gotten better and quicker ... or maybe the rules allow more checking in front of the goal ... and made it more difficult to set up quick stick goals on passes from behind? Wasn't there a Cornell attackman, Pat Gallagher, a tiny guy (like 5-5?) who had something like a 2-11 game in the 1970s? I couldn't fathom many people setting up 11 goals in one game.

More broadly I'm thinking of how the game has changed over the last decade and two decades.

Defenses have not gotten quicker, that's for sure.

It could be sorta the opposite: The perceived lack of assisted goals of the type you're describing may be due to the more widespread use of sophisticated zone defense schemes, particularly "match-up zones" that combine zone and man-to-man principles.

Or perhaps the perception is the result of being a long-time Cornell lacrosse fan. We've been spoiled by being exposed to some of the greatest feeders in the history of the game (McEneaney, Bruno, Goldstein, etc.). If you've watched Cornell since the 1960s, you might start taking it for granted.