Upset with the officials and with her team's first-half play, Coach Julie Williams told the women's lacrosse team to pretend it was losing 3-0 before its game against William and Mary even started Saturday.

Less than two minutes into the game, Deanna Blood scored off a Megan Smith pass. Smith-to-Blood scored another goal 44 seconds later.

And 25 seconds later, Smith scored -- off a pass from Blood.

"After that third goal Deanna and I just looked at each other and started laughing," Smith said.

Penn State kept that momentum to defeat No. 1 William and Mary, 9-6. That win, coupled with a 10-9 victory over No. 2 Virginia on Friday, could put the Lady Lions at the top of the polls.

Penn State (6-0) currently is ranked third.

The Virginia game was played in a blinding rainstorm, which made the Lady Lions better appreciate last Sunday's practice, when Williams made them run sprints in a hailstorm.

"As much as we moan and groan about (practicing in the rain), I think we might have had an edge on them," Blood said. "It adds mental toughness -- when you get in a game like that, you have to compose yourself, focus on the ball, on playing, and not on the weather."

Virginia took a 4-1 lead in the first half before midfielder Ann Kolongowski scored with 4:05 remaining.

"All I wanted to do was gain momentum back -- I was not concerned about goals," Smith said. "Then once we got the first goal -- as soon as it happened -- everything picked up. Momentum started pouring in, and we just took over."

Thirty seconds later Lori Fitzgerald scored on a pass from Mary Ann Foley, and Foley scored nine seconds later to tie the score.

Virginia took a 5-4 lead 2:23 later, but Smith tied the score with eight seconds left in the half.

"I'm thinking oh oh, I've got to yell again at halftime, and then we came right back to tie," Williams said.

Foley took over in the second half for the Lady Lions, scoring three of Penn State's five goals for a 10-6 Penn State lead. Foley led the team in scoring with four goals and an assist.

"It was all Mary Ann -- she just took her girl to town," Smith said.

Virginia scored twice more, but the Lady Lion defense held despite a dubious delay of game call which gave the Cavaliers the ball back with 1:30 remaining.

"They weren't doing anything and I was just like let them do it -- they were stopping themselves," Smith said. "They put a shorter goalie in, and from then on they were just scrambling and looking for something that wasn't there."

After Penn State scored the three quick goals, William and Mary came back with three goals in the next 2:15 to tie the score.

"That just shows their mental toughness," Blood said. "They're no easy team to beat."

Both teams scored two more goals in the first half, which ended in a 5-5 tie.

In the second half, the Penn State defense held William and Mary to one goal and Kolongowski scored three goals to clinch the game for Penn State.

"In the first half, we weren't really shifting to the ball," defender Lynn Burnes said. "We saw the ball better in the second half -- we saw the isolations happen."

"Their timing was impeccable in the second half," Williams said.

Goalie Kay Smith also excelled during the weekend, with 11 saves against Virginia and 15 against William and Mary. William and Mary took 21 shots on see goal -- three more than Penn State -- but converted on six.

Williams said the Lady Lions made some mistakes this weekend, but that doesn't bother her.

"I don't want them to be perfect yet," Williams said. "I want them to take the steps to get better. And we did that --we hung in there."