The American buffalo was one of the most powerful and omnipresent animals of the first century of the United States. Westward expansion and uncontrolled hunting, however, drove the buffalo to the brink of extinction. Like the western settlers of the 1800's, the Nittany Lions are looking to annihilate the Bison.

The No. 6 Penn State field hockey team will host a tenacious Bucknell squad tonight at 7 p.m. at Bigler Field.

The team is looking to build upon its difficult 1-0 overtime victory over conference rival Northwestern, a game in which the squad completed some of their best passing combinations of the season, said Penn State field hockey head coach Char Morett.

"The team actually played really well against Northwestern, but I hope we can do a better job of focusing on our corner execution, because that aspect of our game just wasn't what we expected," Morett said.

Bucknell (5-6) has had its troubles on the road thus far, going 1-4. Led by 11th year head coach Heather Lewis, Bucknell is looking to modify its failure to find success away from home.

Penn State will look to contain Bucknell sophomore midfielder Meiko Boynton, who has led the herd with 14 points. Bucknell's strongest attribute, however, may be its defense, which is led by defender Lindsey Gentel.

Penn State's meeting with Bucknell last season was a hard-fought 5-1 victory in which Timarie Legel's first goal of the game broke a scoreless tie early during the second half.

"Bucknell always plays competitive field hockey, and last year they gave us a great game," Morett said. "I think they really look forward to the challenge of playing a caliber team like Penn State, since they're in a different conference."

Legel and the rest of the team will once again look to defeat the Bison, and they are focusing on the fundamentals in order to do so. By hitting the practice field, the team has hoped to polish any imprecisions in its line of attack.

"We prepare for each game the same way, by concentrating on our defense, shooting, passing, and corner skills," Legel said.

After clashing with Bucknell, Penn State will battle against the forceful James Madison and Wake Forest squads, a challenge which the team is eager to face.

"I like getting out of the conference for a little bit, just so when can concentrate on trying some things that we may look to do against conference opponents the following week," Morett said.

Currently, the Big Ten is up for grabs, with four teams near the top of the conference. With such a strong league, Penn State is looking to win the conference and win an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, Legel said.

Although the team will not be playing against a conference rival, the Lions are still treating Bucknell as a big game.

"It will be a nice break, but it won't be any less competitive," said leading scorer Heather Conroy. "We have to come out here ready to play Bucknell just as we would go out to play Northwestern."

Conroy believes that the key to the team's success is to come out charging, just like against Northwestern.

"We're just going to come out here with the same intensity and drive," Conroy said, "and we'll just keep putting shots on the cage, and they'll start going in."

By thriving through most of the season to this point and with three consecutive non-conference games ahead of them, the team is looking to continue its success and rise to the top of the Big Ten standings.