Editor’s note: This story is the eighth in a weekly series profiling “Hidden Stars” across campus. A “Hidden Star” is someone who doesn’t normally get recognized but who excels in club sports, intramurals or other recreational activities. The series will run on every Tuesday throughout the semester. If you’d like to nominate someone to be featured as a “Hidden Star,” e-mail that person’s name, phone number, e-mail address and a brief paragraph about why he or she should be recognized to [email protected].

Josh Frandsen was completely oblivious to lacrosse before he came to Iowa State, except for a magazine article he had read about the sport.

His friend from Louden House in Helser Hall, Scott Carlson, was on the ISU lacrosse club at the time and urged Frandsen to come out and try his hand at the sport.

It worked.

“They were looking for some people to play and that was the first time I’d really had any exposure to it,” Frandsen said. “I just joined to get some exercise.”

Now, after switching from the midfield to attack position, Frandsen is leading the way for the ISU men’s lacrosse club. The junior horticulture major recorded seven goals and three assists in a three-game tournament in St. Louis, Mo., earlier this month.

“I had the best weekend I’ve ever had playing,” Frandsen said. “For some reason, I could seem to find the goal pretty easily.”

Frandsen said his scoring surge is probably due to his position shift. Traditionally, players in the attack position score the most goals, he said.

“It’s more of a controlling position — you get to take control of the offense back there,” said Frandsen, who compares lacrosse to a combination of soccer and hockey. “Midfield is a lot of running; I don’t like to run a lot. In the attack position you just wait for something to happen.”

According to encarta.msn.com, the games are generally played on a field that measures 110 yards in length and 60 yards in width. Games consist of 10 players on each team: one goalkeeper, three attack players, three midfielders and three defensive players.

All players are equipped with a netted stick, called a crosse, which is used to advance a small ball in the attempt to get it into the other team’s goal.

Fellow attacker Mike Merth, who has seen Frandsen get the ball in the goal often this season, calls him “an awesome leader for the offense.” He said Frandsen plays a big role in motivating the team.

Merth, who had five goals and four assists in the tournament, said Frandsen plays hard, but also enjoys his time out on the field.

“Winning is important, but he has fun at the same time,” Merth said. “When it comes down to the game, it’s business.”

The Cyclones took two of the three games at the St. Louis tournament, including a victory over intrastate rival Iowa, and now sit at 2-2 for the season.

Frandsen, who is the attack captain for the team, said the Iowa game was one of his best moments in his lacrosse career. He said the victory was even sweeter than normal because Iowa State had lost to Iowa in overtime on Sept. 14.

“That was pretty much a game we were looking forward to all weekend,” Frandsen said. “That was our focus, the Iowa game, and tying up the series for the year.”

Overall, he couldn’t be much happier with the way the season is turning out, especially with the circumstances. He said there are many new faces on the squad this fall.

“We’re doing pretty good,” Frandsen said. “We’ve got a lot of new guys, so one of our main focuses has been developing the new guys and working as a team.”

Merth said Frandsen has helped bring the rookies along this season.

“He always takes the time to help the new guys out,” Merth said. “He has really good field chemistry with the other guys on the field,”

That may be because many of the new players on the ISU lacrosse club are in the same boat as Frandsen once was. Frandsen said his high school in Maquoketa didn’t have a lacrosse team, and now he tries to build experience with the younger players by getting them as much time on the field as possible.

“A lot of our team comes from people who have never played before,” Frandsen said. “We like to win games, but sometimes that’s not always the main focus.”

Frandsen admits he’s never really thought about what he likes so much about lacrosse. He said he played golf in high school, and still enjoys it, but never tried any sports as rough as lacrosse can be sometimes.

“That may be why I like it — I never played anything physical in high school,” Frandsen said. “I just got out there and enjoyed the hitting. It’s club-based, so I just got out there and started playing.”

After a fall season, the club will resume play again in the spring.

“The spring is like the only season that counts,” Frandsen said. “[The fall season] is almost like practice for the spring.”