The ISU men’s lacrosse club heads into this weekend with high hopes and a higher seed in its Upper Midwest Lacrosse League Division A tournament.

The Cyclones earned the fourth seed in the upcoming tourney and will face fifth seed Marquette in the first round Friday.

“The fourth seed was perfect for [our club],” said captain Jacob Oakland. “We’re very anxious to get the chance for a rematch against Marquette right away.”

The Cyclones (2-5) last faced Marquette two weekends ago and narrowly lost 4-2. The team is steaming for a chance to avenge the loss when it really counts this weekend.

“When we last played Marquette, we weren’t as prepared or as good as we are now,” said defensive pole Zach Stumo. “We have really improved since then offensively, and I think we really have a good chance against them.”

Since the Cyclones faced Marquette, they have shown signs of improvement with wins over Mankato and, more recently, intrastate rival Iowa.

“We have just been progressively getting better as the season has gone on,” Oakland said. “We showed signs of a strong offense in the past weekends against Mankato and Iowa, and defensively [we] have been solid all year, which leaves us extremely confident heading into this first round.”

The outcome of the first game will determine whether the Cyclones will face the sixth seed or the first seed. University of Minnesota-Duluth was awarded the first seed because of the dominance it showed in and out of the league all season long.

“UMD will definitely be a tough match up,” Stumo said. “But it’s always fun to play a team with as much talent as Duluth, so we can only hope for the best.”

Despite the possible chance of playing Duluth, the Cyclones are eager to get past Marquette with a big win to earn a higher spot and one that’s on the way to the championship side of the bracket.

“Going up against Marquette, it gives us a good shot to win the first game and be on the winner’s side of the bracket for a change,” Oakland said. “It gives us more motivation when we see the championship in sight.”

The Cyclones are very eager to head into the tournament this weekend, especially coming off a recent 15-5 win over Iowa this past weekend.

“Last weekend’s win was a big win for us and really showed us how well we can work the ball around offensively,” said midfielder Jesse Nagan, who had five goals against the Hawks. “We just hope to carry that momentum from that game over to this weekend, and I have no doubt if we play our game, we can get the first-round win.”