April 18, 2008

By Jocelyn Syrstad Daily Collegian

April 18, 2008

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (UWIRE) --

As the final buzzer sounded this past Sunday, members of the Penn State women's lacrosse team stared at the scoreboard. For the fourth time this season, they lost by one goal.

The Nittany Lions slowly walked toward the field to shake hands with the players from No. 1 Northwestern, forcing smiles on their faces as they congratulated the winning team.

This scene is becoming all too familiar for Penn State.

No. 19 Penn State (3-9) has lost to the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 teams in the country by one goal, and it's beginning to become disgruntled after falling just short yet again.

"We know we can play with the best," Penn State coach Suzanne Isidor said. "The worst part is that we know we can beat the best, but we haven't been able to come away with the win."

Penn State has been trying to pick up the pace in practice, working all week to transition the ball quickly down the field in a counter to both Cincinnati's and Ohio State's defenses. The Lions will play Cincinnati (2-11) at 4 p.m. today on Bigler Field and will then travel to Ohio State (8-6) for a 1 p.m. contest Sunday.

In preparation for those matchups, players said it was a little difficult to practice this week -- especially after losing such close games.

"It's frustrating because every practice is built around how to beat the other team," senior defender Christina Buttle said. "It just

sometimes seems like we aren't getting everything out of practice."

Penn State went into practice this week knowing it's been outscored by just 10 goals in 12 games (126-116). With only three wins in those contests, the team feels its record is not an accurate depiction of its season.

Although team members sometimes get frustrated, senior attacker Jessi Lieb said the team shouldn't let losses affect its play, and everyone should be concentrating on their next task. Isidor agreed, saying her team should work even harder after losing a close game.

"The team does a pretty good job of coming back after a close loss," Isidor said. "We have to maintain our focus and still work on the little things. The girls are always hungry for more. As long as we stay focused, the wins will come."

Coaches said the team is focusing on limiting turnovers to help improve its record. The Lions have turned the ball over 155 times this season and have only forced 84.

However, Isidor said the team needs to work on the little things if it wants to win.

With that in mind, the Lions sprinted up and down the field at practice this week with a new kind of determination. Their cleats picked up sod as they ran, and they quickly shot the ball at the goal, looking to score every time.

"We are confident we can play," Lieb said. "And we know we can play against the best."

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