Since the beginning of the season, the women's lacrosse team has emphasized that balance would be an integral part of a successful year. The Lady Lions (3-0) displayed that balanced attack yesterday by handily defeating Colgate 22-3, following an 18-8 victory over James Madison on Saturday. Both games were played at Holuba Field.

"I like to see it this way," Coach Sue Scheetz said, "It's been the key to our success. This year we've had more (players) scoring earlier (in the season) than last year. It's a tribute to the players who have played longer together -- they have a feel for the team."

Against Colgate, four players connected for hat tricks. Junior Mary Ann Foley led the way with six goals, while Tami Worley and Diane Whipple each tallied four apiece. Rounding out the quartet of hat tricks was Lee Clough, who scored three times.

Penn State got on the board quickly as Foley netted her first goal with only 27 seconds gone in the match. Much to the Lady Lions' surprise, the Lady Raiders answered back when last year's leading scorer, Shari Krasnoo, replied just 11 seconds later.

"I was surprised," Scheetz said. "I was talking to an offensive player and didn't even see them score. I thought, 'Uh-oh, this could be a long one with Colgate.' Then when they started to slow the game, we came back to take control."

Suddenly, the floodgates opened. Clough and Foley scored 57 seconds apart, followed by back-to-back goals from Niki Staszesky, which made the score 5-1.

Worley and Whipple combined to score the team's last six goals of the half, giving the Lady Lions a commanding 14-1 lead.

Foley made her day a perfect six-for-six (she only took six shots) by scoring twice in the second half. Whipple added her fourth goal with just 13 seconds left, giving the junior consecutive four-goal games.

Whipple takes the role of goal-scorer in stride.

"It's difficult to play center," she said. "I have to take good shots and (since they) weren't playing me, I was able to get some."

Penn State finished with 44 shots on goal against Colgate, compared to the Lady Raiders' 12.

In the James Madison game, Penn State outshot its opponent, 31-13.

Lady Lion Cheri McMonagle was outstanding in net yesterday, making seven saves. She also saw action as Sue Sommers's backup on Saturday.

"(Yesterday) it was fun. " McMonagle said. "The defense played well. With a lot of the eight-meter shots, I was seeing the ball really well. If I had a choice, I'd prefer turf (Holuba) because the bounces are easier to read."

"She had some real nice saves," Scheetz said. "I felt happy for Cheri. She made some key saves once she got settled."

Even though the defense was solid against Colgate, a breakdown in the second half of the James Madison game caused some concern for Scheetz.

Up to that point, the Lady Lions were rolling along with a comfortable 12-3 lead. But when Kathy Altemus scored at the 35:21 mark, the game had been cut to 13-6. At that point, McMonagle replaced Sommers in goal.

"The momentum started to change and Sue started holding back," Scheetz said. "Cheri is good at stopping some of the shots that were getting by Sue."

Even though Sue Gertie connected at 42:06, late goals by Foley (six for the game) and Worley (five) avenged a close 6-5 loss last year at JMU.

The Lady Lions travel to Loyola, Md. tomorrow to play the Lady Greyhounds at 3 p.m.