Lady laxers urgent for victory against lowly New Hampshire

By DAN GIGLER
Collegian Staff Writer

After a season which thus far has had as many highs and lows as an artist on a VH-1 "Behind the Music" special, the No. 8 Penn State women's lacrosse team may find a chance to solidify the ground on which it stands this weekend.

At noon tomorrow on the grass of Jeffrey Field, the Lady Lions (5-3) will host New Hampshire, a team that has been hard on its luck as of late. The Wildcats (1-3) have managed only one win this season against a hapless Drexel team after opening their season with three consecutive losses.

Penn State, meanwhile, has also had a rather turbulent go as it approaches the midseason mark. After starting the 1999 campaign with an impressive showing, albeit a loss, to top-ranked Maryland, Penn State went on a tear, rolling off four consecutive victories -- all against ranked opponents, including a resounding 17-12 win over then-No. 2 James Madison.

Riding high, the Lions were thrown off of their collective horse after a 15-5 thrashing against No. 4 Virginia. Penn State got kicked while it was down in the form of a 9-8 loss to No. 6 Princeton a week ago. But, the team managed to pick itself up, rebounding with a convincing 16-8 win over Lafayette the next day.

Now, as they head into the halfway point of their season against New Hampshire, the Lions have a renewed sense of focus -- one game at a time.

"We're getting up for every game individually," attack Christine Kenney said. "We want to play every game with great intensity."

The Lions have continued to stress fundamentals in practice sessions and have worked heavily on a vigorous attack to the goal and on shoring up their defensive play.

Penn State coach Julie Williams said her team has continued to improve in practice with each passing week, but has had a difficult time translating their hard work into a surplus in the win column.

"We've had great weeks of practice, but we have to perform better in the games," Williams said. Though the losses have served as growing experiences, Williams and her team feel the time for learning is over, and for victories to commence.

"One of the girls said to me in practice, 'I'm sick of learning, I want to win!' " Williams said.

Despite the recent losses to Princeton and Virginia, the team has not adopted a new, urgent need-to-win attitude -- it has been doing that all along.

"We can never lose that attitude. A sense of urgency is good -- it should be there," Williams said.

"We want to win every game."