One year after its second straight Big Ten title and first trip to the NCAA Women's College Cup Final Four, the Penn State women's soccer team is ready for action.

The Lady Lions moved one step closer to the start of another run Sunday, as the Blue squad defeated the White squad 1-0 in the 2000 Blue-White game at Jeffrey Field.

Freshman Heidi Drummond's second-half goal, a rocket that went in just between the crossbar and the outstretched arm of junior goalkeeper Emily Oleksiuk, was the game's only score, a testament to how evenly matched (and skilled) the two squads were. And, with the season opener against George Mason looming on Sunday, it appears as though Penn State is ready to make another run toward a national title in 2000.

"We have a good balance of experience and youth this year," said Oleksiuk, who will anchor the Penn State defense for the third year in a row. "The freshmen are fitting in really well."

Penn State women's soccer coach Pat Farmer was inclined to agree, for the most part, though he admitted there is room for improvement. "We have a ways to go offensively."

The Lady Lions refrained from going at full tilt against their teammates, due in large part to the fact that Penn State already has dealt with a few early injuries. However, Farmer made it clear to his players before the game that he wanted them to take the intrasquad scrimmage seriously.

"We have a 20-game schedule this year, and no exhibitions. I tried to impress upon the team that this was the only game-like situation they'd see before the start of the season."

Sunday's action also formally marked the return to the team of sophomore Christie Welsh, the All-American forward who spent most of the summer touring with the U.S. National Team.

Welsh, who sat out the game's final fifteen minutes to nurse a sore hamstring, said she plans to apply the work ethic and training techniques she picked up with the National Team this summer to the coming season. She also said she will try to help along some of the freshmen on the front line, although Drummond and fellow rookie Stephanie Smith were impressive Sunday night.

Once they got rid of the butterflies, that is.

"It was really exciting -- and pretty nerve-wracking," Drummond said of her first experience under the lights of Jeffrey Field.

Judging by the performances of Drummond and her teammates, Penn State opponents are in for a few nerve-wracking evenings of their own in Happy Valley.