Offensive players are on the field looking to score. Their teammates are cutting and screening to get them open while defenders are playing stifling man-to-man defense. The player with the ball is concerned with the hitting speed of the game, all the while trying to get the ball past the goalie to get a score.

It seems like this game is similar to the sport of basketball, football, hockey and soccer, but this strategic and physical mixture is the sport of lacrosse.

ISU Lacrosse Club president Joe MacDonald said the combination of hitting is like hockey and football, and the running style is like soccer.

“[Lacrosse] is better than all of the sports; it’s all combined into one,” MacDonald said.

Players wear helmets and shoulder pads, said club vice president Joe Dilling.

“Not big pads, like football, but smaller pads,” Dilling said. “[Lacrosse] is a very fast-paced game with a lot of contact.”

Although lacrosse is one of the oldest American sports — it was invented by American Indians — it is indeed a mixture of many sports. Three attackers stay on their half of the field and play offense; three defenders play straight defense; three midfielders play both ways; and a goalie rounds out the 10 players who are on the field at once.

The main difference is that the athletes use a stick to pass the ball.

The offensive players use a three-foot stick with a net on the end. The defensive players use a slightly bigger stick: six feet, also with a net on the end. The midfielders use a three-foot stick while the goalies have a special goalie stick with an extra-wide head.

Club member Peter Bangasser said it hurts when the small ball strikes you.

“Some of the guys can throw the ball over 80 miles per hour,” Bangasser said. “You can have welts for awhile.”

Midfielder Jake Swaggert said his position is more similar to soccer since he has to run the whole length of the field.

“You have to pretty much be in shape,” Swaggert said.

“Playing lacrosse is definitely very physical. Not as physical as football, hockey or rugby, but I would say it’s next in line after those.”

Dilling, senior in civil engineering, said the physical game can lead to a lot of penalties.

Penalties can be given for hitting a player in the helmet with the stick, hitting a player in the back or hitting a player when the ball is not near them.

“You sit in a penalty box, like hockey, for 30 seconds, a minute or two minutes,” Dilling said.

The fall semester is a preseason for the club. The club plays tournaments in the fall to get ready for the Upper Midwest Lacrosse League, which starts in the spring semester. Dilling said the fall tournaments are tuneups for the conference games.

“We play all our rookies in the fall. There are a lot of guys that come out for lacrosse that have never played before,” Dilling said. “We like to get everyone playing experience in the fall. That is what the fall season is for, to find out who is good. The spring time is when we play our top players.”

The club will continue its tournament games Saturday and Sunday at the University of Minnesota-Mankato.

Another tournament before the league games start is at Northern Illinois on Oct. 23-24.

Since his high school didn’t offer lacrosse, MacDonald was eager to try the sport at Iowa State.

“I always wanted to play,” MacDonald said.

“When I came [to Iowa State], I tried it out and fell in love with the sport and met a great group of guys.”

MacDonald has gained more than friendships while involved with the lacrosse club.

“Now that I am president, I am working with a lot of things behind the scenes,” MacDonald said. “I have really learned a lot about responsibility, running an organization and making connections with people outside our club to get things done.”

Dilling said ISU students often find lacrosse to be a good extracurricular activity that helps them stay active in sports.

“Guys that played a lot of sports in high school find lacrosse similar to their sport,” Dilling said. “With a large university like Iowa State, varsity sports are hard to get on to. A sport like lacrosse appeals to players that play all different kinds of sports.”

Swaggert said the game of lacrosse led him to Iowa State.

“[Playing lacrosse] was definitely a part of my choice to come to Iowa State,” he said.

“Another important thing is to represent the school. It’s unfortunate there is no lacrosse varsity sport.”