The ISU lacrosse club team opened its only home play last weekend against tough Minnesota competition, managing to go 1-2 against teams from University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, University of Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State University.

Sunday’s perfect weather seemed to bring the Cyclones a new air of confidence and a turn in dominance as they (1-4) controlled much of the play against St. Cloud, despite SCSU’s early goal to take the lead within the first few seconds of the game.

The Cyclones answered back when Brian Van Heck got control of the ball and took a hard shot on net for the unassisted goal. Goals were exchanged between the two teams on and off and the Cyclones went into the half, trailing 5-3.

As the Cyclones took the field in the second half, they managed to limit SCSU to only one goal and come from behind to tie the game. Attack David Woodcock received a pass from downfield, and took a center shot to make the game 5-5. The Cyclones finally took the lead with a long shot from midfield Dan Zimmerman to make the score 6-5 and never looked back, winning the play 8-6.

“We had more confidence today [against SCSU],” said midfielder Jesse Nagan, who had a goal and assist against SCSU. “We managed to slow it down and play our game and came away with the victory.”

Saturday’s morning game was a different story for the Cyclones, who faced University of Minnesota-Duluth, currently ranked fifth in the nation among the Division A league.

“Duluth is a great team,” said captain midfielder Jacob Oakland. “They controlled the ball and got a shot on net every time, where we just didn’t.” Duluth managed 24 connecting shots on net and limited the Cyclones to zero goals, ending the game in Duluth’s favor, 24-0.

Friday was another tough loss for the Cyclones, who faced the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, another dominant team. The Cyclones pushed through the rain and mud, which made ground balls difficult and proved to be among one of the deciding factors in the outcome of the game.

“We had a lot of trouble with the ground balls on the field,” said assistant coach Mark Anderson. “We just weren’t getting the ball.”

Minnesota was able to control many of the ground ball pick-ups, giving them the shot advantage, and used that to score 16 goals to defeat the Cyclones 16-5.

“The score didn’t really reflect the whole game,” said coach Tim Rourk. “We played really well the entire game, but we just had some unfortunate scoring opportunities, where they [University of Minnesota] were able to score.”