On March 1, 2014, then-No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse was a home underdog against No. 1 Duke. Over the next three years after winning that game, the Terps did not play at Maryland Stadium ranked lower than their opponent.

This Saturday, though, they’ll face top-ranked Penn State on Senior Day. The Nittany Lions enter the showdown with the nation’s fifth-best offense, scoring 14.7 goals per game.

No. 8 Maryland must handle the explosive attack without defender Mac Pons, who has missed the team’s first eight games with a lower-body injury. While coach John Tillman said the senior could return before the end of the year, he’s more concerned with shoring up the healthy defensive unit’s play after an uneven showing in a win over Michigan last Saturday.

“The big goal for us, and we talked about it after the game on Saturday, is just try to be more consistent,” Tillman said. “We’ve had some breakdowns. At times on Saturday … we weren’t all on the same page.”

[Read more: Coach John Tillman thinks “the world” of Maryland men’s lacrosse’s seniors]

Monday, the Terps (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten) watched film, discussed communication and went over fundamentals. After conceding a couple of uncharacteristic goals against the Wolverines, Tillman reviewed basic defensive principles.

Through more than half the campaign, Maryland’s defense has performed slightly worse than it did last year. The Terps have conceded 8.63 goals per game this year, the 17th best mark in the country, after giving up 8.35 per contest last season.

Tillman acknowledged the squad has missed Pons’ on-field leadership. So, he said if Pons recovers from his injury and wishes to return, he’d welcome him despite the growing chemistry of his current group.

Since Pons hasn’t been on the field in months, he’d likely be used as a depth option while working his way back to full strength.

Defensive midfielder Isaiah Davis-Allen said even though Pons hasn’t made in-game contributions this year, Pons searches for mistakes from younger teammates while watching practices from the sideline. When Pons spots an error, Davis-Allen said, he talks the players through what went wrong after training.

“It’s tough,” Davis-Allen said. “Mac has done a great job our freshman through our junior year. I know it’s hard for him [to miss time], but he does an awesome job with trying to teach the younger guys.”

Still, Tillman would like to have Pons on the field against the Nittany Lions (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten). When asked which aspect of Penn State’s roster concerned him most, the coach laughed while responding, “Geez, pretty much everything. You don’t get to be No. 1 by accident.”

But while Tillman admitted Maryland would “have to play better” to top Penn State, the players refused to hype the matchup. Attackman Matt Rambo, who has faced 38 ranked opponents in his career, said he doesn’t see the tilt any different than other games.

“They’re super talented, I know that,” Rambo said. “[But] everyone on our schedule is super talented. It’s just another game at Maryland Stadium.”