Adam Kenney and Matt Loy are two attackers on the Penn State men's lacrosse team standing at different crossroads in their lives.

Kenney is a 22-year-old senior who's in his fourth and final year with the team. When the season is over, and he has his degree, he'll be heading for Sacramento, Calif., to be with his girlfriend and 18-month-old son, hoping to land a job in human resource management.

Loy is a 19-year-old freshman who's in his first year with the team. For him, graduation is so far away that, when asked about his future plans, he hesitates before saying that he's been "thinking about getting into teaching for awhile."

On Saturday, however, those crossroads won't be important. The two Nittany Lion attackers will be heading into the season's second and final exhibition game against No. 2 Johns Hopkins with similar goals in mind.

Penn State's attack unit has been banged up. Two of last year's main attackers, senior Brian Boyle and sophomore Rob Forster are nursing injuries, while Max VanArsdale is coming back after missing the 2006 season with a hurt ankle.

The team's coaches are hoping to have Boyle and Forster back in the starting lineup for the first official game of the season, a nighttime contest at home against Denver on Feb. 17. Assistant coach Guy VanArsdale said that he expects Boyle and Forster, once they're back, to lead the attack alongside Max VanArsdale.

In the meantime, though, Kenney and Loy both figure to see substantial time on the field tomorrow. Both of them hope they can catch the eyes of the coaches and make their case that they can be key to Penn State's attack this year.

Both contributed to Penn State's 8-3 win over Lehigh last Saturday in the Lions' pre-season opener. Kenney scored two goals that bolstered Penn State's lead late in the game, and Loy scored the game's opening goal.

Loy said that his early goal was "a big relief."

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"Before the game, I almost threw up in the locker room, just because I was so nervous," Loy said. "[Scoring the goal] just made me feel a lot more confident."

Guy VanArsdale said that Loy is "a very good off-ball player."

"We were really happy with Matt," VanArsdale said. "As he plays to his strengths, he's very effective for us."

Loy is standing at the start of his four-year trek in a Lion's uniform. Even though the coaches have told him he won't be starting many games this season, he still said that he wants to improve enough to be part of the Lions' regular attack unit and play in a good portion of each game.

VanArsdale had similar praise for Kenney, saying that he was good at capitalizing on his opportunities and brought versatility to the Lions attack.

Kenney has played in only one game in each of the past two seasons. Reflecting back on his Penn State career, he said that one of his goals has been simply: "to play."

"It didn't always turn out that way in the last couple years," he said. "But I've been working really hard."