Last weekend, the club lacrosse team traveled to South Carolina to compete against Clemson and South Carolina. Despite losing to the Gamecocks, State had an impressive showing at Clemson and was able to make it out of the weekend with one win and one loss. 

“This was a pretty big weekend for us, it showed we can actually play,” sophomore Kyle Cullen said. “We were kind of wondering who was going to step up in which positions and we really played well against Clemson and got a big win.”

Like all club sports, the lacrosse team is comprised of athletes from many different walks of life, coming together with a common fervor for their respective sport.

“A lot of our guys have come from playing sports all throughout high school and when they got to college that was absent, so it’s a great way for us to continue to play the sport we love,” team captain James Midgette said. “We’re out there to play lacrosse at a high level and be able to have that same team experience and enjoy the game.” 

Although lacrosse is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, N.C. State remains one of many schools that remains without a varsity program. However, the lack of a varsity program may increase the level of competition as well as the talent level for State’s club squad. 

“It’s definitely a lot hard than high school lacrosse,” Cullen said. “It’s not quite at the varsity level but since we don’t have a varsity program there is definitely a lot of talent throughout our team and throughout the conference. It’s really competitive.”

However, like every other sport at N.C. State — varsity or club — the lacrosse team was plagued with key players leaving due to injury or quitting for other reasons. However, according to players, the team has grown closer recently.

“We have started hanging out more as a team outside of lacrosse practice. We’ve really been bonding a lot more,” Midgette said. “I think it has allowed us to grow tremendously as a team, even though we did lose a few key individually talented people. As we’ve grown closer and gotten to know each other a lot better it really has impacted our playing ability on the field.”

With the tightly-knit group of guys who have been practicing since late February, the team looks ahead with high hopes of making the playoffs and contending for a league championship. 

“We still have a chance to make the playoffs; we just have to beat Wake and upset Virginia Tech at Blacksburg in our last game of the season,” Cullen said. “That will be a huge game. I think we are playing well. I am really excited to see how the rest of the season unfolds.”