Laxers' strong attack meets sturdy Irish defense in home opener

By DON WAGNER
Collegian Sports Writer

Last year, the men's lacrosse team opened its season in a less-than-auspicious fashion. The team traveled to South Bend, Ind., to face Notre Dame and lost 12-9.

The No. 19 Lions will again open their season against the Fighting Irish, but this time it will be on their home turf. The two teams will face off at 1 p.m. tomorrow in Holuba Hall. Coach Glenn Thiel said his team will be facing a No. 16 Irish team loaded with experience.

"All the starters from last year's team that beat us are returning, including two fifth-year seniors," Thiel said. "This is a team who has been in the NCAA tournament the last two years and is very experienced."

The match-up of these two teams has Thiel feeling a little uneasy, but for good reason. The Lions' strength is in the attack position, while Notre Dame's strength is its defense.

"I don't like this match up because our attack has to go against their defense," Thiel said.

Notre Dame is strong on the defensive end because it has some of the best individual defenders in the country, he added. Thiel said Irish defender Mike Iorio can take any team's offensive threat and make it a non-factor in a game situation.

A good defensive team must get physical, and when the two teams met last year, Penn State was thrown off by the physical Irish play. But this year, the Lions are a little better prepared for it.

"They play a very physical type of game and hit a lot," Thiel said. "It threw us off last year, but I think we've done a good job getting ready for it this time."

Even though Notre Dame will come in hitting, the Fighting Irish may have a slight disadvantage against the Lions.

"We don't know a heck of a lot about Penn State because it's our first game," Irish Coach Kevin Corrigan said. "We weren't able to scout them during our preseason scrimmages, and we're not quite sure what to expect."

Going on past experiences, however, Corrigan said the Lions will have a well-coached, athletic team. He said he sees the match up as one of two very similar teams.

No matter what kind of disadvantage either team may have, Thiel said he expects a good game and knows his team will be ready to improve on last season's performance.

"It should be a great game," he said. "I think we'll be ready to go after some fine tuning in practice and some rest."