The script for the 2006 Penn State men's soccer team has read similarly to last year's Big Ten Championship team.

Last year a struggling Nittany Lions squad overcame early season struggles when it traveled to the defending National Champions' home field and won against a tough Indiana team.

Now the Lions (2-5-1, 1-0 Big Ten) have almost an identical record as last year's team at this juncture and will arrive tonight at 7:30 in College Park, Md., to face last year's National Champions, No. 6 Maryland in a game that the Lions have had circled on their calendars.

Senior Simon Omekanda is going into this game with the same confidence he went into last year's game against the Hoosiers.

"First, we know we can go there and beat them," Omekanda said. "A few years ago we went over there where I think they were ranked top five and we went in there and beat them 4-1."

In last Sunday's win against Michigan State, Omekanda led his team with a goal and an assist in the 3-1 victory.

He hopes that his team will go into College Park with the momentum and confidence from Sunday's game.

"With our confidence, we know we can go there and play," Omekanda said. "We know it's going to be a hostile environment."

The Terrapins have won two games in a row at home and have rebounded since losing to No. 4 Clemson, which dropped them from their No. 1 ranking.

But since the Terps have traveled home, they have outscored their opponents 5-0.

Omekanda knows his team has to quiet the crowd early if it wants to win.

"We just have to go there and try to score early to get the crowd out of the game and play our game," Omekanda said. "They're a team like everybody else."

Penn State men's soccer coach Barry Gorman has been using this short practice week to get his players focused on an opponent that will be the toughest all season.

With injuries spread throughout the team, with the most important being a leg injury to All Big-Ten sophomore Jason Yeisley, new faces will have to step up for the Lions to pull off the upset.

Last year Yeisley scored two goals against Indiana in the 2-1 victory, but this year Gorman will have to look to someone else to put the ball in the net.

"We'll have to play other players," Gorman said. "We'll have a chance to see what these guys can do."

Freshman Jacobo Vera will be one of the players getting some more playing time with Yeisley out and will be depended on to work with Omekanda.

Luckily for the Lions, they have goalie Conrad Taylor in net to keep the team in the game and give his squad more scoring chances.

Taylor earned Big Ten Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week honors after his play against Michigan State last weekend.

But scoring goals and winning is something that this Lions team hopes is a repeat from last year.

Omekanda knows that the confidence from last weekend's win will not only show his team, but also opponents what this team is capable of.

"Winning that first one set a tone that we know that we can win," Omekanda said. "So now teams know we are not going to lose every game of the season. We now have that respect back."