The men's lacrosse team will try to improve on its 1-1 record this weekend when it competes at the Loyola Invitational Tournament in Baltimore.

Tomorrow, the Lions will face the Princeton Tigers (2-0), while Loyola, last year's NCAA runner-up, will play Ohio Wesleyan, a finalist in last year's Division III NCAA Tournament. On Sunday, the winners will meet for the championship.

Coach Glenn Thiel said a strong practice week should result in wins in Maryland this weekend.

"We have been keyed in on Princeton this week," Thiel said. "We've run hard all week in practice, so we will taper off on Thursday and go light on Friday because we need our legs for this weekend."

Joel Brous concurred with Thiel about the preparation required for Princeton, which was one of 12 NCAA Tournament teams last year.

"We have run hard all week in practice," Brous said. "We just have to stay confident against Princeton."

Brous added confidence and patience are needed on offense.

"We'll have to know when to run and know when to slow it up," he said.

Since Penn State will be playing two games in as many days, Thiel said he will utilize his entire roster to avoid fatigue. Thiel said he will dress 26 players for the weekend tournament.

The Lions hope Baltimore is a friendlier place than Chapel Hill was earlier this year. North Carolina, which knocked off defending champion Syracuse earlier this year, handed Penn State a 15-3 loss on March 5.

Brous scored two goals for the Lions against the Tar Heels, while Chris Marcus scored the other. Junior J.J. Pearl had 18 saves in the net for Penn State.

On March 7, Penn State rebounded with a convincing 17-4 victory over Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Va. Both Ted Peddy and Marcus had three goals for Penn State.

After this weekend's tournament, the Lions will host Drexel at 2 p.m. on March 24 at Jeffrey Field.