The Syracuse men's gymnastics team is 0-for-43 years against Penn State.

Still, the Lions will not be over-confident when they kick off their 1990 season against the Orangemen at 8 tonight in Rec Hall.

"You can't assume anything with Syracuse," team captain Mark Sohn said. "They could come in here and surprise a lot of people and end up beating us. I really think we can handle them, though, if we go out there and do the job like we have been for the past week."

The Lions returned from semester break early to prepare for Syracuse and even worked out twice a day for a week to rid themselves of any extra holiday sluggishness.

A few nagging injuries persist to a number of Lions -- Chris Keller (ankle), Mike Reichenbach (ankle), Blas Falconer (ankle) and Doug Wilson (knee), but all are healing rapidly and should not hamper the team performance.

Last year, the Lions, who finished the season at 10-4, easily handled Syracuse, 263.70-256.85. The difference between the two scores even surprised Coach Karl Schier.

"I thought they were going to press us a little more last year," he said. "They were up too high for it. They were rough. This year, they're sort of lying in waiting for us."

This season the Orangemen also may show the effects of a sparked interest in their program.

"This year, they started training in a brand new, state-of-the-art gym," Schier said. ''It'll give them a much better practice facility than they've had. Financially, they're getting much more support, in part because of the success of the basketball and football programs. So, we expect them to be a credible team. They're going to be better and better."

For the Lions, this meet will be a sort of initiation for the freshmen -- Jim Delaney, Mike Masucci, Falconer, Raul Bonet and Jacob Wan. Performing in Rec Hall, in front of a crowd much larger than even the largest high school gathering, is always a trial.

"It's a good start," senior Karl Abraham said. "It's at home and it's a nice warm-up meet. We never really know how Syracuse will look from year-to-year. They tend to improve each year. It'll be a nice first meet, get the freshman adjusted."

Despite the hype and pressure, Masucci, who is expected to be one of the top all-arounders for the Lions, remains calm.

"I want to compete in front of the home crowd," he said. "I like that stuff. I'm not really too nervous yet. I've competed at big meets, so I'm sort of used to it. I don't really care who we meet, I'm just ready to get started."