The Maryland Stingers have a history of beating Penn State, but that doesn't seem to bother the women's rugby team.

The Lady Ruggers are out to change that statistic, as they will take a trip to Maryland this weekend.

They will test their luck against the Stingers, a women's rugby team that brings women from Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC, together.

"There are five Penn State alumni on the team, which is why we are playing them," Penn State women's rugby coach Pete Steinberg said.

"Some of which have represented the U.S. They are all very good players. They are a very strong team, very exciting."

The Stingers are one of the top clubs in the country and will be considerably larger than the Lady Ruggers, who acknowledge their small size as a weakness.

"Our biggest weakness is that we are not very big," Steinberg said.

"A big issue for us is trying to avoid taking the ball into contact on offense and if we are tackled, making sure we win the ball."

The strategy the Lady Ruggers will try to enact is spreading the ball wide.

Steinberg said that he thinks Penn State team will be a little faster and more fit.

He is looking for senior Rachel Hammond to lead the forwards and Claudia Knudsen, who is returning from a knee injury, as well as Stef Glecos to lead the backs.

Senior Kyla Black explained how this game will help the Lady Ruggers.

"We want to see where we are at, at this point in the season," she said.

"And have our strengths and weaknesses revealed.

"It gives us a chance to play a really experienced team and really challenge ourselves and see our potential."

Steinberg agreed that this game will benefit the team in many ways.

"Because of the disadvantage we have in the playoffs (JMU has been outside all spring), we want to play a tough team that gets us back into the swing of things," he said.

"They will challenge us much more than JMU will challenge us. That will give us a good bench mark. This year will be the most difficult path to get back to national champions."

Steinberg said he thought they won last year, not because they were better athletes than anyone else, but because they played more like a team.

"This year we are not going to surprise anyone because everyone is after us," he said.

When asked if how he thought that would play out mentally on his team he replied, "I don't know yet. I think it is going to be interesting.

"Last year everyone was young and wide-eyed and wanted to play well. I think we definitely have a shot at nationals, we just have to dedicate ourselves."

The Lady Ruggers will start their voyage to nationals on Sunday with only the Stingers standing in their way.

"We are going to go out there and play strong and aggressive," Black said.

"We are going to play the rugby we know we can play."