It's not too often that a team's fourth game of the season could end up making or breaking their season.

That is the case with the Penn State's men's lacrosse team.

At 1 .p.m. on Mar. 9, the No. 16 Nittany Lions will take on divisional rival No. 7 Georgetown on Jeffrey Field. The Hoyas (1-0) are the prohibitive favorite in the ECAC and pounded the Lions (1-0) 12-5 last season in Washington, D.C.

The Lions NCAA tournament hopes this season will rely on winning the ECAC divisional title to get the automatic bid.

Coach Glenn Thiel knows that the game against Georgetown will likely hold their postseason fate.

"The important thing is that Georgetown is the crucial game if you're thinking of the long range goal," Thiel said.

Before tangling with Georgetown the Lions will travel up to Fairfield in Connecticut tomorrow to face off with the Stags (1-0). The Stags defeated Holy Cross 14-9 in their lone game of the season to date.

Junior attacker Matt Buecker lit up the scoreboard for six goals against Holy Cross.

Just two days later the Lions return home Monday for a 3 p.m. game against Air Force.

The Falcons (1-0) used a multi-pronged attack to defeat Mount Saint Mary's 11-6 as nine different players scored.

"Yeah there is no way we can afford to let down against those teams," freshman Will Jones said. "They have the ability to beat us just like a Georgetown team has the ability."

After a nail biting overtime victory over No. 11 Notre Dame, the Lions will look to carry over that performance into their game against the Hoyas. A dominant freshmen performance against the Fighting Irish was key, but with freshmen that type of contribution cannot be expected in every match.

"There will be no question they aren't going to keep going up and up," Thiel said. "They showed (their ability) and everyone saw it so it's going to change matchups."

Many of the freshmen will be looking to the upperclassmen as the season moves along and as matches begin to have greater and greater importance. The team has just three seniors, but all are captains and contributors on and off the field. After a big win against the Irish, the Lions will be hoping to avoid a big letdown in their first divisional game.

"We have great upperclassmen and great captains they keep us going in every practice," Jones said.

Thiel's team will look to have a complete performance against the Hoyas, something he has said that they have struggled to do against them in years past.

"Luckily it's at our place," Thiel said. "It will be a good game I think. They are very talented and we've tended to stay with them for periods of time, but they wear us out."