With a long list of sports that are a part of the N.C. State athletics department, many don’t realize that lacrosse was once on that list.

The sport was granted varsity status in 1973 after being a club sport the year before. The team would continue to hit some highs and lows before 1979, when the team finally made in to the NCAA tournament and was ranked No. 6 nationally before it lost to the eventual national champion, Johns Hopkins, 20-6 in the first round.

The sport was dropped in 1982, reportedly because of costs and budgetary constraints. But that hasn’t stopped the sport from seeing the light of day. The team became a club sport again in 1984 and is now part of the Southeastern Lacrosse Conference. According to the club’s Web site, it has qualified for four out of the last six conference championships since 2003. The team plays against the likes of Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia Tech, East Carolina and South Carolina.

Max Van Dorn, president of the club and a junior in accounting, has been playing lacrosse since he was about 12 years old and said he found out about the club when he realized he was coming to State.

“I just looked for what club sports where offered and saw that they had a lacrosse team,” Van Dorn said. “I e-mailed the president and I just knew from word of mouth that there was a team.”

Van Dorn said the team has held practices and a few scrimmages this fall. In the spring, the team holds practices three times a week for two hours and plays 10 games, while throwing in two or three scrimmages.

The Pack hopes to win its conference this year, but would have to defeat one foe that has been in its way for the last two years.

“This year, it would be South Carolina,” Van Dorn said. “Just because we have to beat them in order to get to the playoffs. The past two years we’ve lost to them. So we would really like to beat them.”

The team looks to take people who have played lacrosse in the past and are interested in learning how to play the sport.

“On our Web site, it has a recruiting form which would go to either me or the coach,” Van Dorn said. “We’ve gotten quite a few of those. We’ve had a few kids that are still in high school that are coming down to tour the school and they’ve met with the coach a little bit.”

Recently transferring to State, Matt Daniels played lacrosse at a Division III school and said he felt it wasn’t taking him anywhere. Daniels, a sophomore majoring in English, said he was expecting the club team not to be as serious, but loves the attitude of the guys on the team.

“I love going out there and playing because everyone is super enthusiastic and wants to go out there and play for the love of the sport,” Daniels said. “And that’s what I missed about playing in college, it was just guys there on scholarship, just fulfilling that duty, it seemed. The guys out there now just want to be out there to play and get better.”

Though the sport has seen varsity status before, Van Dorn said he doesn’t think the sport will be brought back as a varsity team.

“We would have to hire a coach,” Van Dorn said. “Recruit players from elsewhere. None of us would probably play; maybe one or two kids would make the team. In order to be competitive, it would be very difficult to have any of the same people involved at all.”

Van Dorn learned about more about the varsity team when he spoke to alums that were once on the team.

“They said how much fun it was for one thing,” Van Dorn said. “They were actually like a competitive team. But at the same time, a lot of people around here didn’t understand that they were a varsity team. They had a lot of bad things to say about the athletic director. I don’t really know who he was or what he did wrong, but he didn’t understand the sport. He didn’t think that it was revenue-generating. It was kind of disposable, if you will.”

Daniels said it would be nice to see the team brought back as a varsity sport, but is fine with how things are.

“I think it would be fantastic, but almost impossible to do,” Daniels said. “Just because of the way the University is right now, money wise, Title IX and other things. It would be awesome, because the ACC teams, especially for lacrosse, are pretty well known for it.”