At Tuesday night's practice, the Penn State men's lacrosse team used a new variation to an old warm-up drill.

As the players began their passing drill to open the workout, they rolled the ball on the ground and scooped it up before each pass, rather than passing the ball in the air the entire drill. Gaining possession -- especially ground ball opportunities -- will be crucial when the Nittany Lions (1-4, 0-1 ECAC) meet No. 12 Fairfield (5-0, 1-0) at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow in Holuba Hall.

"We got a little more physical with Colgate [in last Tuesday's win], and it worked out to our advantage," Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel said. "A big part of it is getting more possessions, and we're certainly gonna need that this weekend."

Penn State has not beaten a ranked team this year. Late defensive collapses have led to early season defeats, the most notable coming when Loyola scored seven fourth-quarter goals to win, 10-9, on March 3. However, the Lions won't be able to afford any lapses against Fairfield.

"The defense has got to be consistent for 60 minutes or this team is going to explode," Thiel said. "We played better defense at Colgate than we had up to this point, but we still had a stretch in the middle there where we gave them a chance to get back into the game."

In a show of its explosive power Fairfield beat then-No. 11 Bucknell, 13-7, on March 13, scoring five goals with less than six minutes left in the game. Individually, Fairfield attackers are receiving their share of recognition. Senior Mike Brocklet is the reigning ECAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a total of 11 goals and four assists in two games against Bucknell and Harvard. Fellow offensive standout Travis Nelson was named New England Division I Offensive Player of the Week, after scoring 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists in those same two games. The Stags have outscored their opponents by an impressive margin, 62-41.

Meanwhile, Penn State has yet to play at full offensive strength. Attackers senior Brian Boyle and sophomore Max VanArsdale have yet to play in the same game this season because of injuries. Boyle missed last game with a concussion, and attacker Max VanArsdale is recovering from fractured ribs. Boyle led the team in points last year with 37. Both are expected to play this weekend.

In last week's win over Colgate, the first of the season, the Lions showed signs of improvement. Devin Madden, who was playing at his former high school, won 10 of 15 face-offs against Colgate, one spot where the Lions have struggled early this year.

"Getting healthy will be one big thing but otherwise, we've been executing fairly well," VanArsdale said. "We need to work on finishing games, too, that's a big thing. We haven't executed well for an entire game yet, so once we get that down we're gonna be a tough team to beat."