Mary Ann Foley has a sense for when the women's lacrosse team needs her.

She scored four goals in the last 10 minutes to lead the Lady Lions to a come-from-behind victory over Loyola, and she scored four goals against No. 2 Virginia in a 10-9 victory.

And yesterday, after they fell behind, 2-0, to James Madison, Foley scored two goals in 1:02 to tie the score and spark the Lady Lions to a 17-5 victory. She finished the game with four goals and two assists.

"She has spurts when we need them," Coach Julie Williams said.

Although one player can't carry a whole team in lacrosse, Foley can dominate for a few minutes or a few plays. Her first goal yesterday came after she missed a shot; she scooped up the rebound and underhanded it into the goal.

But Foley has been sporadic so far this season -- besides the three four-goal games, she has scored no goals in three games. After missing all but two games with a knee injury last season, she is slowly returning to her old self.

"I just need to be consistent," she said. "That's been my goal from the beginning."

Foley pulled the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a practice in Holuba Hall before last season. A senior, a captain, and the 13th-leading scorer in Penn State history, she didn't want to redshirt.

She played 10 to 20 minutes in last season's first two games, but tore her ligament completely against Colgate in the season's third game.

"Dr. Cox told me if I wanted to play I could -- I couldn't injure the ligament anymore," she said. "But I didn't want to have the pain anymore."

Foley decided to have surgery and redshirt; she was operated on April 11 -- almost exactly a year ago. Now, although she plays with a brace on her knee, she has had no pain and no problems.

"It's the best decision I've ever made. I was able to rehab, I've had no problems, and I'm stronger and playing better than I would have last year," she said.

Williams, then a first-year coach, didn't know Foley very well at the time of the injury. But by watching her lift more weights than the doctor suggested to hurry her recovery and push her rehabilition schedule as quickly as possible, she and the rest of the team discovered Foley's inner strength.

"The worst I've had is a sprained ankle, and I was scared coming back from that," attack Megan Smith said. "I was afraid to cut, I was afraid to hurt it again. And she was a little tentative at first, like she should be, but now she's back to the old Mary Ann."

When Foley returned this season, the rest of the Lady Lions, like their coach, didn't know her very well, either. All her teammates but Smith had graduated, and most of this year's players had worked together all last season.

Foley also missed fall practices because she was student teaching third graders near her home outside Philadelphia. Foley returned to the team the first day of the spring semester -- only three months ago -- not having played for a year.

"I'm the new one, this time," she said.

And just as Foley had to learn about her teammates, her teammates had to learn about her. Smith said that although she'd played with Foley before, she needed to learn again how Foley pivoted and played.

Williams said that Foley and Smith, like the rest of the seniors, play off each other well. If Smith is having a sub-par game, Foley takes over. And if Foley isn't playing well, Smith plays even harder.

"Our captains are our captains, but our seniors like Mary Ann are just as powerful," Williams said.

And if Smith feels like taking a risk -- such as passing the ball into a crowd of people in front of the goal -- she looks for Foley. Foley's catching ability and quick shot make her a threat from anywhere.

Foley, although she's flattered that her teammates look for her in tough situations, deflects most of the praise to them.

"That's what people don't understand -- I might score a goal, but for that to happen everybody else has to be in the right place," she said. "But personally, I feel great . . . it gets me into the game, and it psyches my teammates up."