Georgetown taught the Penn State women's lacrosse team a lesson on Friday.

And in yesterday's game against Lafayette, the Nittany Lions showed they had been paying attention.

The No. 3 Hoyas used a strong start to trigger an offensive explosion, defeating the No. 12 Lions, 23-11, at Georgetown's Kehoe Field. The Lions then did the same to the Leopards, scoring the first two goals and building an early lead to go on to a 13-5 victory at Lafayette's Metzgar Fields.

"It was kind of like redemption for us," junior Alison DeCecco said. "We had to prove something to ourselves. Against Georgetown, we didn't come out strong at all."

However, the Hoyas did. Senior Sarah Ogelsby won possession on the first draw and took the ball to the goal, giving Georgetown a 1-0 lead. The Hoyas were then able to score two more quick goals before Colleen O'Hara put the Lions on the board at 27:59, making the score 3-1.

However, Georgetown resumed their fast pace to gain a 14-6 lead by halftime.

"Defensively we didn't play well at all," said Penn State coach Suzanne Weinberg. "Georgetown has strong attackers. We needed to double team the ball, and it didn't happen. We couldn't stop them, and therefore couldn't get possession of ball"

Each team scored two goals apiece to start the second half, but Georgetown used a 6-0 run to go up 22-8 and put the game out of reach. Freshman Katie Jeschke, sophomore Kate Affonsa, and senior Brooke Bailey led Penn State with two goals apiece in the loss.

"I was surprised," Weinberg said. "I expected it to be a tough game, but I thought we would be able to play with them. Georgetown came out on fire, and we came out flat."

Therefore, Penn State's main objective heading into yesterday's game against Lafayette was avoiding an early deficit, and Jeschke put the Lions on the board just 18 seconds into the game.

"She's a scorer, and is a great attacker that other teams are really keying on," Weinberg said of Jeschke, who finished with five goals on the weekend. "They know she's one of our top scorers. She's drawing the best defense from other teams, and she's still able to get ball in the net."

Lafayette's Heather McClelland evened the score four minutes later, but O'Hara answered with two consecutive goals. B.J. Lucey and Jeschke then made it a 4-0 run for the Lions, and both teams added two more goals before halftime to make the score 7-3.

"We had that fire in our eyes," Weinberg said. "We wanted the ball, and we didn't let them get anything easy. We made Lafayette work hard for everything."

In the second half, sophomore Kristin Wood had two goals, freshman Katy Heuisler scored one and Jeschke added her third goal of the game.

O'Hara also scored twice, bringing her weekend tally to five goals.

"She was three for three on her free position shots, which is excellent," Weinberg said.

"It's something she's worked hard on this year."

The Lions now have one game remaining, a home match against Ohio State Saturday at noon.

After its performance this weekend, Weinberg said her team has one goal heading into its final contest.

"I think we're just looking to finish strong and finish on a high note," she said. "It should be an exciting game."