When the Penn State men's lacrosse team travels to Amherst, Mass., this weekend, it will meet an opponent that may appear eerily similar to itself.

The Nittany Lions (2-4, 1-1 ECAC) will face Massachusetts (2-5, 0-1 ECAC) at noon this Saturday at Garber Field, finding a formidable foe in last year's national runner-up. But even beyond the nearly identical records, the teams are almost mirror images.

Penn State opened the season losing three of its first four games by three goals or less. Similarly, all of the Minutemen's five losses have been decided by three goals or less.

"They're just an athletic bunch of guys. They remind me a lot of our team," sophomore goalie Drew Adams said. "They're a well-balanced team. They're well-coached, well-disciplined."

Beyond overall similarities, each team boasts a young, talented goalie. Both Adams and Massachusetts sophomore Doc Schneider have been named to the 2007 Tewaaraton Award Preseason Watch List. Adams, who was named ECAC Defensive Player of the Week this past week, is third in the conference with 8.72 goals against average, while Schneider has an even better 8.04 goals against average. Adams is first in the league with 10.83 saves per game, while Schneider is equally impressive with 12 saves in four different games so far this year.

However, the Penn State defense will ultimately decide the contest between such equally matched teams. Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel said that the difference for the Lions in the past two wins has been the return of players on offense, and most importantly, cohesion on defense.

"We did a good job on some key people [against Fairfield]," Thiel said, "and we kept the defense in the man-to-man a little tighter than we had played before. We didn't slide as much, and that worked to our advantage."

With that new strategy, the Lions limited Fairfield's fifth-ranked offense in the country (as of last week) to only seven goals, well below its 12.8 goals per game average.

The Lions will have their hands full with the Minutemen's senior Brett Garber and sophomore Tim Balise, who have each score a goal or made an assist in every one of Massachusetts' games this year.

When the defense plays well, the success rubs off on the other Penn State players, too.

"I find myself playing better, too, because I'm seeing easier shots," Adams said. "I see shots from farther out which are easier for me [to handle]."

As the Lions approach another conference game this weekend, their excitement may be a little higher knowing they will face last year's conference winner.

"Even before they made it [to the finals] last year, we knew they were a good team," Adams said. "They're just like us. They're much better than their record shows. From what I hear, Massachusetts is a tough place to play. Everyone's really looking forward to it."