Michigan isn't a breeding ground for over-zealous high school lacrosse players, as Charley Henneghan remembers it. The sport has been mostly an East Coast phenomenon, but that didn't stop Henneghan. During his freshman year at Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., he picked up a lacrosse stick for the first time to play games with his friends and eventually for the high school team.

Now a sophomore midfielder at Penn State, Henneghan remembers well his days playing high school lacrosse in Michigan. His former teammates have now scattered to an assortment of Division I lacrosse programs, including Joe Landry, a junior midfielder for Loyola College, who will be heading to Penn State tomorrow.

Henneghan and Landry aren't alone. When Loyola (0-2) and Penn State (0-2) fight for the opening face-off tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Holuba Hall, the game will be a high school reunion of sorts. Between the two teams' rosters, 12 of the players have played together before in high school.

Time will tell if either team has an advantage because of this familiarity. Rob Forster, a sophomore attacker for the Nittany Lions, played high school lacrosse for LaSalle College High School in Wyndmoor alongside one of Loyola's junior defensemen, Eddie Graham.

"We know each other's styles pretty well," Forster said. "We've been watching tape on him. He still plays the way he did in high school."

Forster and Graham have been playing lacrosse together since Forster was in sixth grade. In 2004, the two won a state championship with LaSalle on a team that was captained by Graham. Though almost three years have passed, they haven't drifted. When they're home on breaks from school, they spend time among mutual friends and even work out at the gym of their old high school.

Henneghan hasn't stayed quite as close with Landry, although they do play in a lacrosse summer league together.

His most distinct memory of Landry happened in 2003, when Brother Rice beat Landon High School in what Henneghan called "the biggest upset that Michigan's ever seen."

"He was just [scoring] goal after goal," Henneghan said of Landry. "It was a sight to be seen."

Forster said that he's been speaking to Graham over the phone this week and the conversations have consisted mainly of joking around. In the minutes leading up to the game, however, it's likely that the familiar air of reminiscence will fade and the two teams will be focused on getting their first win of the season.