Beating up on Division II Shippensburg was certainly nice for the women's lacrosse team last week. And defeating Colgate on Sunday surely brought a smile to the faces of most team members. But today, the Lady Lions get busy.

The Lady Lions will tangle with rival Temple at 3 p.m in Philadelphia. They definitely will face their toughest task to date -- the Lady Owls were picked No. 1 by some polls, and the Lady Lions suffered a triple-overtime loss to Loyola.

"Loyola gave us a run and we got a taste of what it is like to play in a top Division I game," Mary Ann Foley said. "(Now) we are mentally prepared."

"Temple traditionally has had a tough team," Coach Julie Williams said. "They don't quit."

"Penn State and Temple always is a good game," Temple coach Tina Sloan-Green said. "It is a major rivalry."

The Lady Lions, fresh off their 13-6 victory against Colgate last weekend, upped their record to 4-1 while Temple is just 1-0 this year. The Lady Owls defeated William & Mary, 13-7, on Saturday.

"We definitely have an advantage going into this game because we have played more games than them," Williams said.

Sloan-Green downplayed this fact, however.

"It is always an advantage to have played more games, but we know it is going to be a tough game and we just have to be prepared to play."

Temple is led by Jane Catanzaro and Katie Clemmer, who each had five goals in the victory against William & Mary. In goal, the Lady Owls have Jill Marple, who made 10 saves on Sunday. Penn State field hockey fans should well remember Catanzaro. She is a two-time All-American and scored a school-record 36 goals last year.

Temple has won 34 straight games at home going back to 1987. The last team to defeat the Lady Owls at home was Penn State. Last year the Lady Lions defeated Temple twice, once at home, 13-5 and once in the NCAA semifinals, 9-3.

Foley is still recovering slowly from a knee injury, but has since seen some action in the past two games. Ann Kolongowski is still recovering from early-season surgery and will not play. Williams said Kolongowski has began running with the team and "looks pretty good."

Leading the team into the game will be Diane Whipple and Megan Smith. Whipple leads the team in goals with 19 and also has five assists. Smith conversely leads the team in assists, 17, and also has 11 goals.

Williams said the team will have to excel at getting the ground balls and sprinting back on defense.

"They (Temple) have the elements of a really good team," Williams said. "It comes down to toughness and we have to out-tough them."