Some days teams just have it working, and on others nothing seems to go the right way.

The No. 10 Penn State women's lacrosse team (7-6, 4-0 American Lacrosse Conference) has been on both sides of the equation in the last five days.

After a lackluster effort against sub-.500 Pennsylvania on Tuesday, the Nittany Lions bounced back in a big way by defeating Northwestern (6-6, 1-4 ALC), 12-7 Saturday at Lakeside Field in Evanston, Ill.

The Lions came out flying and scored nine goals in the first half, while not allowing a single one, proving Tuesday's game was a distant memory.

"It was a combination of realizing what we had done wrong versus Penn and making up for that," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said. "I think that [the team] didn't need to hear a lot from me. I heard them say all of the right things before the game. They knew what they were capable of." Something the Wildcats felt they were capable of was shutting down the Lions' leading goal scorer, Colleen O'Hara, and her 2.2 goals per game average. They managed to hold her scoreless, thanks to their defensive strategy.

"They had a girl who was face-guarding me, basically it was her job to stop in front of me and not let me get the ball," O'Hara said. "I guess it worked."

A positive of this strategy for the Lions was that it opened up lanes for the rest of the offense. They managed to take full advantage, as seven different players tallied goals, much to the delight of their captain. "That took the pressure off me," O'Hara said. "I usually feel pressure to score, it was awesome that my teammates realized that they needed to score."

Despite the strong offense, the heart of the team on this afternoon was the defense, which absolutely silenced the Wildcats' offense. The Lions forced bad shots and turnovers. Isidor acknowledged that her team did lose some of its intensity in the second half, which is understandable with a nine-goal lead. The Wildcats battled back late, scoring four unanswered goals over the final ten minutes, but it was never much of a game. The win improved the Lions to 4-3 on the road, and it just might have been the game that spawns confidence for the stretch run.

The test, however, will come on Wednesday against Georgetown as the Lions look to prove they can play two straight games at a high level, something that they have yet to do all season.