The path may be brutal, but these soldiers sound poised to refuse to let it be a death march.

Coming off four consecutive losses, the No. 16 Penn State women's lacrosse team (3-6) once again finds itself matched up with a top 10 team when No. 3 Loyola (8-1) travels to State College tomorrow for a 1 p.m. date with the Nittany Lions at Jeffrey Field.

The Loyola confrontation arrives after a pair of defeats last weekend at the ACC/Big 10 Challenge in Maryland.

It was at Ludwig Field, where the Lions fell short of the then-No. 7 Maryland (6-4) in a 13-11 contest before No. 5 North Carolina (7-2) cruised over Penn State 15-7.

"We have another chance," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said.

"We're learning as we go what it takes to play against these teams. We need to take care of the basics. And having fun is huge.

"We're ready to turn the season around."

Nobody said it was going to be cake, but a 3-6 record at the midway point was unanticipated from a team with 10 seniors.

"I think everyone's surprised," senior attacker Sara Young said. "But that doesn't mean we're not determined to make the best of the rest of our season."

The Lions have displayed such purpose after they were given a pair of off days early in the week for rest and reflection.

The team has responded this week with some high-spirited practices and what seems to be a fresh attitude on the rest of the season.

"We had a team meeting where we just agreed that our season is not done," an upbeat Young said.

"It was just good to share team goals. I think everyone's on the same page. Our team is a fighter.

"It's a huge characteristic of this team."

What those goals were, Penn State would not say, but if they want to knock off Loyola, the Lions will have to bring some hard-hitting gloves and a quality cut man, because Saturday's battle could turn into a war.

The Greyhounds have beaten Penn State in each of the past two seasons, and this year's squad could be the best Loyola team Penn State will see. Loyola, described as a fast, aggressive, powerful team by Isidor, is balanced across the entire field.

Goalkeeper Tricia Dabrowski has put up a sparkling 6.3 goals against average as the junior has played all 540 minutes of the season between the posts.

Preseason All-America Stacey Morlang has led the Greyhounds to six straight victories and a 5-0 record in the Colonial Athletic Association division. The senior from Australia has scored a team-high 37 points this season to build her career point total to an incredible 240.

"It's going to be a tough game," Isidor said. "It always is. They've won a lot of games. They've played a lot of good teams. Right now everybody is in the mindset that we're going to do what it takes to turn around our season. I think we're ready."