Members of the Steelheaders celebrate a goal during Saturday night’s game at the Central Oregon Indoor Soccer Center in Bend.

When you put competitive amateur soccer players indoors, the action is accelerated and the players are flying.

It’s like watching a foosball game, but with real, live players who move. REALLY move.

At the Central Oregon Indoor Soccer Center in Bend, players dart around the 80-by-180-foot bright-green artificial turf field in what appears to be fast forward. They juggle the ball off their bodies and between their feet, passing quickly — and never stopping even for a second.

Members of the Central Oregon Steelheaders men’s soccer team, now in its fifth year, say they feel the pressure to perform on their home turf. And that’s exactly what the members of the team did on Saturday night.

The Steelheaders beat Wenatchee of Washington, 11-7.

“It’s exciting,” said Vicky Storjohann, mother of longtime Steelheaders players Eric and Scott Storjohann and an avid fan who was out supporting the team on Saturday. “It’s fast. It’s fun to watch. They are very competitive.”

The Steelheaders call themselves a semiprofessional team, though they do not get paid. The travel for games and long hours of practice are the equivalent of a part-time job.

“They play all the time,” said Brandi Storjohann, Eric’s wife. “They love soccer.”

Each player on the Steelheaders plays in the men’s A league through the soccer center and some play in coed leagues throughout the winter.

Competing in the Northwest Division of the Premier Arena Soccer League, the squad plays against five other teams from Oregon and Washington. The PASL is just one step down from Major League Soccer.

Unlike conventional outdoor soccer with 11 players per side, indoor games are played six players against six, with five field players and one goalie.

Made up mostly of longtime soccer players from Central Oregon, the Steelheaders have nearly a whole new roster this year. And the players are young: their ages range from 17 to 36.

One player, 17-year-old Jorge Delvallar, is an exchange student from Mexico and still in high school, currently attending Sisters High. Some of the other players are fathers and business owners.

“This year we have a mix of a little bit of the old and a lot of the new,” said general manager of COISC Christopher Casad, who helped recruit players for the Steelheaders. “There are a lot of young guys that maybe (don’t have) much experience and don’t know the game as well as the older guys, but they’ve got what it takes as far as the energy and the strength. They’ve got what it takes to make the team.”

According to team manager Scott Storjohann, 80 percent of the team is new this year.

“We have five returning players,” he said, listing himself and his brother Eric, along with Mike Herzog and Josh Steele, as returners. “And Cam Davis played with us last year, but didn’t get a lot of playing time. So this is actually his first season of full playing, traveling — the whole nine.”

Casad said that his focus for the team and the indoor soccer facility is to diversify this year.

“One thing I pushed was to get our Hispanic players represented, because we have a lot of good players,” said Casad of the Hispanic soccer players who have been part of the Bend men’s leagues for years and years.

Seven Hispanic players are Steelheaders this year.

On Saturday night, soccer fans packed the stands, reacting to every shot on goal, save, block and body slam against the clear plexiglass that surrounds the playing surface.

“With outdoor, without the walls, it’s so much different (from indoor soccer),” explained Bend’s Matt Hillman, 42, who plays in the local men’s B league and was watching the game Saturday. “The Steelheaders have done a great job of playing the walls to their advantage. … You use the angles. It’s like racquetball or something. All of a sudden you have these walls and … when (the ball) hits the wall it completely changes the angle and it’s a whole different game — way out of my league.”

Nearly 200 paying spectators were in attendance at Saturday’s game, with their eyes glued to the action, though that is about half the number of fans who used to watch.

“People were making a lot of noise, people were yelling, every time we scored a goal, noisemakers were going off,” said one of the original Steelheaders, 30-year-old Steele, describing the early years of the team’s operation.

“For a couple of years we had the highest attendance in the league,” added Scott Storjohann. “It was ridiculous. I mean, it was standing room only.”

Storjohann attributes the decline of game attendance to less team members, particularly, less area coaches on the Steelheaders squad. Some area coaches used to bring entire youth teams and parents out to watch the games.

With the support of fans, the Steelheaders are accustomed to winning home games. So now, the goal is to work on their away game.

“Tacoma’s fans have songs and chants and they have guys just screaming above your bench,” said Steele of a recent experience at a game in Washington. “And they are just chanting down at you during a timeout. It can play a big factor (in the outcome of the game).”

The team members are realistic. They hope to go to the regional playoffs at the end of February.

“With a little luck we stand a chance,” said Steele.

“The bottom line is that everybody just loves to play soccer,” noted Scott Storjohann. “And that’s what we are here to do.”

Want to watch?

Next home game: Central Oregon Steelheaders vs. Snohomish (Wash.).

When: Jan. 31, 7 p.m.

Where: Central Oregon Indoor Soccer Center, 20775 High Desert Lane, Bend.

Cost: $5 general admission.

More information: www.coindoorsoccer.com.