Just because there's only two games left on the schedule and their major objective of the season is practically accomplished, it doesn't mean it's time to relax for the Penn State women's rugby team.

This Saturday, the Lady Ruggers look to shore up their hopes for the No. 1 ranking in the spring Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union (MARFU) tournament with a win in league action against Salisbury State.

Combined with last week's win versus Navy, a win both this weekend against the Sea Gulls and next week against American University will guarantee the top spot for the Lady Ruggers in their quest of the national crown.

The Sea Gulls haven't given much trouble to the team in the past, said head coach Pete Steinberg.

"Salisbury is traditionally the weakest team in our division, and they are normally not much of a problem for us," Steinberg said. "However, it takes only one or two players to be added to a team to make a team better."

Because of that fact, the Lady Ruggers are wary of possibly letting down and giving way to the potential of an upset. Their battle on Saturday may prove to be more mental than physical, Steinberg said.

"We have a history of somewhat playing our game up or down to our opponent," he said. "We can't take them too lightly. We need to play to our level, not to their level."

Several players echo that notion.

"We have to play as hard as we do any day," said winger Kathy Doyle. "We have to play as a unit, and show our measure as a team. We can't play them halfheartedly."

"We should play them with even more focus than we did with Navy. Navy was our hardest game, and we won, but it's easy to get caught on that and overlook the next guy."

Saturday's game will give the team time to hone their contact skills and work on ball possession more. Though those aspects have improved as the season has gone on, they need to be stronger for the Lady Ruggers next spring in the postseason.

Besides working on mental and physical aspects of their game, the team will utilize game time on Saturday to work more players into starting roles in order to gain experience. Some players who usually play in the B-side games will be thrust into A-side action for a chance to play against more advanced competition. A deep bench will be necessary in case of injuries or fatigue during the spring season, and also for further development of the team for the 2002 season.

"We're going to look to develop some depth for the spring season," forward Alena Kolarsky said. "Some more experience will be important for our team then."

One more item on the agenda, along with giving more players experience, is the team continuing its work towards being a more cohesive unit on the field.

"We'll work on reading the defenses and play decision," said Kolarsky. "All of us will need to look up the field when we have the ball and decide what we all will have to do."

Kickoff is at 11 a.m. at the west campus pitch near the Blue and White Golf Course.