With playoff position more up for grabs than a tuna fish sandwich in the cafeteria, it's time for the Penn State women's lacrosse team to take care of business. After a big win against then-No. 3 Loyola (11-2) two weekends ago, an emotional letdown in Dartmouth has got the No. 15 Lions (4-7) in need of a pair of victories when they host an American Lacrosse Conference challenge at Jeffrey Field this weekend. The Lions take on Davidson (5-8) at 4 p.m. today before seeing Northwestern (5-6) on Sunday at noon.

"I was very disappointed after the Dartmouth game," Penn State head coach Suzanne Isidor said. "To come out and play so hard the week before against Loyola and than to not show up against Dartmouth was surprising and disappointing. We need to take care of our next six games and see what happens. Nobody could tell you what's going to happen right now. It's crazy."

Although the Lions have yet to put together a winning streak of more than two games, Penn State continues to get respect in the polls, further backing up the notion that this team is indeed talented enough to take an inventory of victories.

"I think at this point it's the mental side of our game," Isidor said. "Physically we have the skills. It's just making the right decisions, and bottom line is that we have to be fired up. Every single person on that field needs to have that mentality that we need to fight."

If Penn State plans on resurrecting its season, now seems like the time to do it. After playing a grueling 11 game schedule against ranked opponents, Penn State has an opportunity to use such experience against two squad that will come to town with a losing record, and without a ranking. The Lions will however be playing without senior defender Melissa MacRone this weekend, who is nursing a sprained ankle.

Davidson has dropped seven consecutive games with their latest loss being an 11-10 heartbreaker against No. 10 Vanderbilt (8-3).

"I thought we played with a lot of heart and intensity," said Davidson head coach Mary Schwartz in a press release. "We showed this afternoon that we can play with anyone in the country and while it was a difficult loss that will hopefully give us some momentum for our final four games."

Northwestern will be coming into town on a two game win streak. The Wildcats will also be riding high after freshman Sarah Albrecht was named ALC player of the weak for her efforts against Brown, Ohio and Duquesne.

Penn State has never played against Brown or Northwestern, but both teams are described as athletic, scrappy teams by Isidor.

"Our plan going in is just to work on our execution," Isidor said. "We need to take better care of ball on the attacking end. Defensively we need to go out and play aggressive. We can't give up anything easy like we did against Dartmouth."