Interest in lacrosse has been growing across the country over the past couple of years.

The sport’s appeal has apparently spread to the Midwest. In the last three years, 18 teams have joined the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference. Half of those teams are located in the Midwest.

Illinois’ club team is coming off one of its most successful years to date. Last year, it lost in the GRLC championship game to Missouri. If the team had won that game, it would have qualified for the national tournament.

“The turning point of the season was probably our win against North Carolina State or Wake Forest,” said sophomore midfielder Andrew Gruber. “We lost the first three games of the season. After those wins, we went 9-1, our only loss coming in the conference championship.”

The team lost three players to graduation, only one of whom consistently started.

They also have a new coach. Brady Sullivan, a graduate student, took over the position this year. As a player at Illinois, he was first team all-conference.

After graduating in 2002, Sullivan was an assistant coach at Lane Tech High School in Chicago.

“He’s really taken charge of the team,” said team president Dan Rufo, junior in LAS. “We can tell he knows what he’s doing.”

While they do return most starters, the team might be hampered by the injuries of sophomore Joe Dodson and junior Andrew Merrill. Dodson is progressing week-to-week and should be ready for the team’s first game this spring. Merrill tore his ACL and underwent surgery last season.

The players are two of the team’s top attack men. Dodson was second team all-conference and leading scorer as a freshman last year.

“If we get them back, we can be one of the top teams in the college level,” said Sullivan.

Despite the injuries, Rufo said the team still expects to improve on last year’s finish.

“Hopefully, we’ll win the conference this year and go on to nationals,” said Rufo. “A lot of kids graduated last year on teams in the conference.”

Sullivan expects the team to reach its full potential.

“I would consider the season a failure if we didn’t win conference and go to nationals,” he said.