As the lacrosse season draws to an end, the ISU Men’s Lacrosse Club team has high hopes for a solid conference finish as they head north to Steven’s Point, Wis. for their last Upper Midwest Lacrosse League Division A games.

The Cyclones, (2-3) face University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point on Saturday, followed by St. Olaf College on Sunday.

Saturday’s match up against UWSP (1-0) is expected to be a close one for the Cyclones, who have played in more games this season than UWSP, who have only played one; they beat Marquette University.

“I know they’re [UWSP] going to be a good team,” midfielder and junior in operations and supply chain management, Jesse Nagan said.

“But I also know they haven’t played UMD [University of Minnesoata-Duluth] or University of Minnesota like we have, so by having that experience against those teams, it should be to our advantage.”

Despite UWSP lack of games, the Cyclones will be looking back to their defense to shut down UWSP’s leading attackman, Matt Kennedy, who is currently ranked third in points in the league.

“Steven’s Point has one attack man [Kennedy] who traditionally leads their team,” said Jacob Oakland, captain and senior in industrial engineering. “If we play our game and shut them down on offense, we should have no problem coming out on top this weekend.”

Good defense will play an even bigger role in Iowa State’s game against St. Olaf (3-0 in out of division games) on Sunday, who currently have two of the Division A’s leading scorers and point leaders.

“It’s going to be crucial to shut down their attack,” Oakland said. “We’re just going to match up our defense accordingly to their strongest players.”

The Cyclones defense has been able to step it up huge in the past few games, allowing only 12 goals against them in the past three games.

“We’ve pushed our defense back to what we like and to where we all feel very comfortable,” said defender and fresman in construction engineering Mike Pokorney. “I’m confident in our one-on-one defense especially, and really keeping the ball away from their offense and up in our offensive zone.”

Even more help will be added to the Cyclones defensive line this weekend as junior Matt Brown returns to the lineup after being out because of an injury.

“It will be huge to have Matt Brown back,” Pokorney said. “He’s a captain and leader on defense and it will be nice to have another fresh set of legs and big hitter out there on the field.”

The Cyclones have high hopes of winning this weekend as they look ahead to the end of the season and the tournament coming up at the end of April.

“We really need to win both games this weekend to make sure we get that third seed,” said Nagan. “It would let us avoid playing powerhouses UMD or U of M right away in the second game of the tourney.”