What has 25 members, is preparing to start its 26th season at the University of Maine, and is still a club sport striving to make the jump to varsity status?

(“Jeopardy” theme plays)…

Time’s up. It’s the University of Maine men’s lacrosse club. That’s right – lacrosse.

“The club’s been around since 1968. A guy who was a student here named Chuck Marquez started it up,” said Chris Lombardo, a midfielder on the team who doubles as the unofficial public relations director.

Lacrosse matches two teams of 10 men with long-handled rackets who try to advance a small ball across a field and fire it into the opposing team’s goal.

Lombardo explained that the Maine team became very big in the early 1980s and he thinks the program is heading in that direction again.

“We were hoping to get 20 players on the squad this year, and we have about 25 to 30 right now,” said Lombardo, who transferred to Maine from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

Finding players is not the problem with this team. Lombardo and player-coach Rusty Merritt need a full-time coach and more practice time.

“There’s a lot of talent on this team. We just need the work and some full-time instruction,” said the sophomore zoology major.

“Oh sure, we have lots of good players,” said freshman attacker Jesse D’Elia from Bay Shore, N.Y. “I think we could be a couple of years away from being a good varsity team. The talent’s there.”

D’Elia has plenty of experience to back up his statement. He has been playing lacrosse for 10 years. He grew up on Long Island where the sport is extremely popular.

“It’s not as competitive here as it is there, but I think that’s what makes it good,” said D’Elia. “You have more fun with it.”

D’Elia is one of the 10 or so players on the team with lots of experience. There are also 12 or 15 players like Lombardo who have played a year or two, and there are four or five who are beginners.

Lombardo and Co. are also hoping for continued warm weather to melt the snow that is preventing them from starting their season on time.

The team will play home games at one of three locations: near the football practice field next to the ROTC training course, on the field across from the Park Place apartments on Park Street, or on the field near Chadbourne Hall.

“We’re just waiting to find out which one we can use,” Lombardo explained.

The team’s first game is a home contest scheduled for Saturday against Maine Maritime Academy. The game may be moved to MMA’s indoor facility in Castine.

Maine is scheduled to play nine games against Maine Maritime, the University of Maine-Farmington, Thomas College, Colby College and Unity College during a season that lasts for only one month.

Because it holds only club status, the team’s operating budget is low. The university contributes $1,400 that the team uses to pay game officials and transportation costs.

The team also has a hard time getting practice time. The only practice time that Lombardo and Merritt can book in the field house is from 10 p.m. to midnight on Sunday and Tuesday.

“Obviously, we’ve got a long way to go, but I think we can become a competitive varsity team in a few years,” said Lombardo. “We just need the support … and a coach.”