Coming into a Penn State sports program is tough enough, but joining a team that is one of the elite squads in the country as a freshman can seem almost impossible.

Freshman fencer Alex Goldenberg, though, has been having the time of his life.

"For me, this season started off pretty intense," Goldenberg said. "The captains before the season made it very clear to the team that we had a great chance to win again this year."

Co-captains Meredith Chin and Marten Zagunis have been keeping this team focused and so far this season, the Lions have dominated.

The Penn State fencing team will be competing at home tomorrow against teams such as Duke, Yale, and Haverford. This competition will be Goldenberg's first home dual competition of his collegiate career.

"The chance to compete at home will be different," Goldenberg said. "Competing in all of those new environments have been a little hectic."

If any other Penn State team was undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the country, a home game would be a well-attended event.

The Penn State duals tomorrow, however, won't even come close to selling out the White Building gym.

The Lions won't even compete in front of a paid attendance.

This might help to alleviate the pressure on a freshman athlete, but Goldenberg would rather show off his sport in front of an audience.

"If people come with no prior knowledge of what fencing is they would be surprised how much speed and tactical thinking is involved," Goldenberg said.

The Lions hope that their success will create more of a buzz on campus.

In the team's last competition, the men's team beat the University of North Carolina 22-4 and the women beat the Tar Heels 23-4.

"If people came to watch us they would see that our team is internationally stacked," Goldenberg said.

The Lions have fencers from countries such as Germany, Poland, Thailand and Israel.

One of the top fencers on the team, freshman Franz Boghichev from Dormaglu, Germany, competes in the saber and is currently ranked number two in the country.

Junior Katarzyna Trzopek from Warsaw, Poland is one of the Lions' top competitors in the epee.

Coach Emmanuil Kaidanov hopes to keep his, "internationally stacked" team ready for the Duals even after the long winter break.

Goldenberg, after taking a look at the other teams that the Lions are facing, repeated what the captains have been saying all year, "We're just going to dominate."

The Penn State Duals start at 9 a.m. in the White Building and the team just hopes to gain new fans.

"People should really come out on Saturday," Goldenberg said. "Plus we're a lot of fun to just sit and watch."