Laxers hoping to get on roll at home

This weekend the Nittany Lions will play at home, yet in unfamiliar territory -- they will play outdoors.

The No. 13 Penn State men's lacrosse team (2-3) will make its first appearance on Jeffrey Field at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow when it takes on Maryland-Baltimore County (3-2). Last season, the Lions defeated UMBC 11-5 in Baltimore.

After a tough 13-5 loss to the Princeton Tigers last weekend, the Lions hope to return home and get on a roll.

"We just lost to one of the top teams in the country," Thiel said. "It's time to beat somebody. It's time to do it now."

"We're playing pretty good. We'll be a force to be reckoned with," he said. "We're close to putting it all together."

The team will have to shut down the aggressive play of UMBC attackman Chris Turner, Thiel said. Turner is an aggressive player who goes after ground balls relentlessly and is a potent threat to score at all times.

"We have to just try to take care of him," Keenan said. "You have to try and just shut him down."

Lion freshman midfielder Eric Wood said Turner plays really well on the crease and if the defense steps up and stops him, then the Lions will be able to dictate the pace of the game. By beating UMBC in transition, the Lions should see a lot of excellent scoring opportunities.

"We want to try and run and get a lot of fast breaks," he said.

If Keenan plays well against Turner and the team beats the Retrievers to the ground balls, this will enable the team to run, Thiel said. Whereas the Retrievers will look to play more controlled and at a slow, organized pace.

"Whether we run depends on how well you get ground balls and how well you do in the goal," Thiel said .

If the team plays well, it can start a streak that may lead to a NCAA playoff berth, said Lion freshman attackman Tim Emmick .

"I think that we have to win this weekend to get the ball rolling," Emmick said. "We have some tough teams going up, but they are all beatable. I think that if we do well over these next couple of games, then we can lock up a bid to the NCAAs."

However, Thiel said Penn State cannot be overconfident because UMBC is a good team with a great attack and a good goalie.

"It's a really tough rivalry. They are really shooting for us," he said. "We're a key game in the early part of their season. We're ranked high enough so if they beat us then they are in the picture."