When Virginia battled from a four-goal deficit to tie the women's lacrosse team, 9-9, with 7:35 left on March 31, the Lady Lions must have felt a bizarre sense of deja vu. Just five days earlier, the Lady Lions had leads of 6-2 and 8-5 against Temple which evaporated in a 10-8 loss.

But Penn State would not let this game slip away.

Just 25 seconds later, Diane Whipple took a pass from Megan Smith and cut through the cold, moist air of Lady Lion Field and fired the winning goal past the Virginia goalie.

Penn State got one final scare as the Lady Cavaliers appeared to tie the game again. Lady Cavalier Elaine Jones cut through two defenders and put a shot past Young for an apparent goal, but third man Elena Brazer had established position and took a charge. The goal was disallowed and Penn State survived.

"For a while it was getting scary," Whipple said. "It was a long last 30 seconds. "

"All the time we were on one another," Brazer said after the game. "It was important to play our game."

After that tense, action-packed game, the Lady Lions came back April 1 and defeated a scrappy William & Mary team, 9-5, in the cold and fog at the artificial turf field by Holuba Hall.

"We have taken two big giant steps," Coach Julie Williams said. "It was the first game that we haven't had a lull."

With those two victories, the Lady Lions upped their record to 6-2.

Against Virginia the Lady Lions were sharp early as they took a 4-2 lead after Megan Smith scored at the 9:12 mark. But the Lady Cavaliers battled back, as they did all game, and took the lead at 5-4. But the Lady Lions again regained the lead when Lori Fitzgerald scored and took a two-goal lead when Whipple scored with just 30 seconds left in the half.

In the second half, Karen Brown scored to push the lead to 9-5 before Virginia began its comeback.

Against William & Mary, Penn State had a slightly easier time.

Whipple led the assault with three goals and Faith Sweeney and Deanna Blood each adding two. Whipple now has notched 30 goals this season and is second on the team in scoring (35) behind Smith (41).

"We stayed consistent on the defensive end; we had a great defensive game," Williams said. "We are now talking much better on the defensive end and on attack."

But Cheryl Boehringer of William & Mary scored the first goal April 1 at 7:37 of the first half. Then a Whipple goal off a Blood assist knotted the game at 1-1. It wasn't until 28:16, after a four-goal barrage, two by Blood, that Penn State appeared to have finally assumed control of the match.

After the Lady Raiders made the score 6-3, Whipple got her third goal at 31:48 and Sweeney put in a goal off an assist from Elena Brazer. Once again the Lady Lions had some breathing room at 8-3 but the Lady Raiders countered again.

Kim Orie scored to make it 8-4 and teammate Lydia Donley scored at 43:41 to close the gap to 8-5.

Then Sweeney scored at 47:30 and the Lady Lions ran out the rest of the clock for the victory.

"Today defensively we just realized he had to slow it down," Brazer said. "We regained our poise and weren't rushing it."

The defensive effort was best exhibited by goaltender Kay Young. Against William & Mary, Young recorded 13 saves and against Virginia she stopped eight in the 10-9 victory.

Whipple led Penn State against Virginia with four goals. Smith added two goals and five assists.

LADY LAX FAX: With Whipple's seven-goal weekend performance, she passed Betsy Williams for 10th place on the all-time scoring list . . . Smith's five assists against Virginia and one against William & Mary gave her 26 assists for the year and is closing in on the record set by Lee Clough last season.