Offense wins games, defense wins championships.

The No. 14 Penn State men's lacrosse team (0-1) hopes to fit into that mold and wants to show off its defense at 1 p.m. tomorrow at Loyola, Md.

Nittany Lions' tri-captain Keith Benjamin does not mind that his defensive squad does not get a lot of credit -- in actuality, that's his favorite part.

"It's what we signed up for," Benjamin said. "The offense of course deserves a lot of credit, for they are glory positions. They deserve to have their names run in the newspaper."

Benjamin said that it is easier to talk about an individual on offense get credit for a goal or an assist than it is to talk about an entire defensive unit.

But he did say that one person deserves a lot of credit for the defense's success and that is freshman goalie Drew Adams.

"Drew is a phenomenal, phenomenal goalie," Benjamin said. "He's the backbone of our D and allows us to be more aggressive in the game."

The added aggressiveness Benjamin hopes will allow the injury depleted offense to take more chances and put the ball in the net.

In the Lions' last game against Notre Dame, the team had an offensive struggle, scoring only four goals in the loss.

Benjamin saw a lot of promise in the game for Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel's squad.

"This past week our defense was great during the game," Benjamin said. "When our offense gets completely healthy, we can do some real damage."

He described the defense as an awesome unit as a whole that meshes very well together.

Juniors Matt Mulqueen and Dan Saltsman along with freshman John Stuckey are among the unit that Benjamin said comprises a "strong, tough defense."

"I stuck around as senior for a fifth year so we can win a national championship," Benjamin said. "This year we are a really, really tough team."

The defense can allow itself to be tough for it is a deep squad with few injuries.

Benjamin said that they have depth like that keeps the defense fresh and ready to go.

"Our depth always us to be more aggressive as a whole," Benjamin said. "We already know what we do well so we can take more chances."

The Greyhounds are the Lions first ECAC opponent and are one in a long line of tough division teams.

The team competes twice next week as well with a game at Dartmouth on Wednesday and a noon game March 11 against Ohio State.

Benjamin believes that the team is ready to go and that it will be successful throughout the year.

But he refuses to make any guarantees or predictions for himself or the season.

"I have more aspirations than predictions," Benjamin said. "We as a whole aspire to make the National Championships."