Talk about getting thrown into the fire.

The Penn State men's lacrosse team will waste no time messing around with patsies. They open up the regular season against Notre Dame at 1 p.m. Sunday at Holuba Hall.

The Fighting Irish are ranked No. 11 in the country and returning eight starters from a team that finished 10-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. That Fighting Irish squad opened up their season with a 10-4 victory over the Nittany Lions in South Bend, Ind.

"They're loaded," Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said. "They've got their whole team back. They've got a confident veteran squad with a lot of talented players. We're going to have our hands full."

The Fighting Irish attack line is led by senior attacker David Ulrich. He finished last season with 17 goals and 49 points, leading the squad with 32 assists and garnering second team Pre-Season All-American honors for this season.

The Irish have another potent weapon in senior attacker Tom Glatzel. Glatzel led Notre Dame with 38 goals and 56 points last season.

In order to contain this powerful attack line, the coaches have tried to re-create the Fighting Irish offense in practice.

"We have a very good idea of what Notre Dame does on offense," coach Lars Tiffany said. "We've shown videotape, and we've tried to simulate the offense in practice.

"We're going to have to put our two top defenders on Ulrich and Glatzel. We also have to cover the crease. Notre Dame is very good at feeding the ball inside. They've got good outside shooters, but their strength is looking for cutters close to the goal."

Thiel still has not decided who will be in goal against the Irish.

Senior Matt Vallone and sophomore Chris Garrity have both practiced well. Thiel said he would likely not make a decision until the weekend.

The Nittany Lions will also have a daunting challenge in scoring on Fighting Irish senior goalie Kirk Howell. In their meeting last season, Howell stonewalled Penn State after the Lions scored three unanswered goals to begin the game with a 3-1 lead. As his Irish piled up nine more goals, Howell amassed 13 saves and didn't allow another goal until the game clock had run down to 3:04.

"We're not too worried about their defense," senior attacker Eric Wood said. "We don't think there's a defense in the country that can stop us from getting the ball up the field.

"But Howell's very tough. We just have to get some better shots on goal. Howell's very good up high. We have to shoot for space."

The Lions are coming off two scrimmage wins against Gettysburg and Lehigh. However, both games remained relatively close, even with the first team playing most of the time.

"We would've liked to get a couple blow outs for their confidence," Thiel said.

"But our guys know you play to the level of your competition in scrimmages. It's going to be a totally different game on Sunday, they know that. It's going to be an emotional game with everyone flying all over the field.

"We have to be in a position to stay with them until the fourth period. If we're still in the game then, anything can happen."