The Penn State women's lacrosse season has arrived and the Nittany Lions want to prove they belong as a top NCAA Div. I team.

The No. 12 Lions have prepared for their games Saturday at Vanderbilt (1-0) and Thursday at No. 9 James Madison since last spring's first round NCAA tournament loss to Dartmouth, 9-7.

Penn State coach Suzanne Isidor said the Lions are ready to take the field against Vanderbilt.

"We're definitely ready to play against someone other than ourselves," said Isidor, whose team started 0-2 last season.

"We're going to have that first game fire going into it."

The Lions, ranked No. 1 in the new American Lacrosse Conference (ALC), want to start off the season strong, especially against the Commodores, who are No. 3 in the conference and may move up after defeating John's Hopkins, 7-4, in Baltimore on Sunday.

Against the Blue Jays, Commodores' midfielders Jess Raguski and Jeannie Crawley both scored hat tricks, attacker Kinsey Osberg had two assists and goalie Ashley Bastinelli registered 15 saves.

However, the Lions won't focus solely on stopping specific Commodores players. Rather, Isidor said they would concentrate on playing strong team defense to try to shut down Vanderbilt's formidable offense.

"We're going to double-team the ball," said Isidor, who will start seniors Alyson Shand, Katie Schiller and Stacey Saggese on defense. "We're not going to concentrate on one player because they have a lot of strong attackers."

The Lions will look to All-American attacker Colleen O'Hara, who lead the Lions in points (53) last season, Katie Jaschke, the Lions leading goal scorer (20) last year and All-American midfielder Alison DeCecco (18 goals) as go-to players this weekend.

"We have a lot of good scorers," Isidor said. "The biggest key is taking good shots. We're looking to increase our shooting percentage from last year."

Freshman Lee Tortorelli will start in goal against Vanderbilt, though Isidor said she has confidence in junior Andrea Sorgi as well, who posted a 2-0 record last season.

Isidor did not want to say who would start between the pipes against James Madison.

The Dukes' midfielders Lisa Staedt, Gail Decker and Kristen Dinisio, who scored 39, 28 and 27 goals respectively last season, should challenge either goalie.

"They (the Dukes) are very, very strong in the midfield," said Isidor, who is entering her second year as the Lions head coach.

"James Madison is a perennial powerhouse. It's always a big game."