Penn State fencers face a new opponent tomorrow — time.

Some Lions need wins to qualify in good standing for the NCAA regional tournament, which takes place March 10-11. And they only have one day in which to do it .

"This was a dry season of few meets," Penn State fencing coach Emmanuil Kaidanov said. "What happened, happened."

What happened was a schedule mix-up. The Lions made plans early last summer to attend a dual meet at Brandeis University. The meet also included MIT, Boston College and Brown.The Lions lost out when the meet was cancelled.

But Penn State has reason for a smile and inspiration though. Sophomore Jessie Burke has returned to practice. Freshman saber fencer, Heather Brosnan returned from the Junior Olympics after making the finals.

This week, Penn State (7-1) makes up for lost time. The Lions face Penn, Columbia, Cornell, Temple and Farleigh Dickinson in front of the home crowd in the White Building starting at 9:00 a.m. The men's squad faces Penn and Columbia -- the only schools on hand with both men's and women's teams.

"This meet will be very important for some of us that need more winning bouts to qualify for regionals," foil fencer Non Panchan said.

Panchan, 20-2, doesn't have to worry about padding statistics. Some of his teammates, however, could use the help. This is a good weekend to pile up the wins.

Jon Charles, 7-13, and Omar Bhutta, 12-11, could use more foil wins. Charles seemed to turn his game around at the Lion Country Invitational Feb. 10. He finished third in the event. The men's saber squad could all use some wins. Two lions, Noah Jacobson and Wyatt Kasserman lurk at .500 and captain Mike Takagi is the best at 12-8. Kasserman returned from Salt Lake City with good results in the Junior Olympics. Kasserman finished in the top 16 of the weapon from a pool of near 150 fencers.

New addition to the women's squad Marta Grochal, 7-3, also could use the extra work. She has fully recovered from a foot injury suffered during the Lion Country Invitational. Kristina Viviani, 7-11, looks to improve her record against competition less strong than her baptismal by fire against St. John's and Stanford in January.

Undoubtedly, Burke's return to the strip is an added boost.

She's still a little weak after, but Kaidanov deems the "spirit is there." According to Kaidanov, she will see limited action.

Any action by Burke is a step in a positive direction. It looks like Burke still has a shot to defend her NCAA title.

This weekend is the perfect springboard for the stretch run in March.