Princeton's Theresa Sherry has been in this position before.

She's seen her No. 1-ranked women's lacrosse team struggle, and the senior proved once again on Saturday that she knows what to do in times of trouble.

Facing a four-goal deficit at the start of the second half, Penn State went on a 5-1 run to tie the game at 7-7.

That was when Sherry took over. She scored three of the next four goals, leading the way for six unanswered goals by the Tigers as they defeated the No. 18 Nittany Lions at Holuba Hall 13-7.

"Different people step up," said Chris Sailer, head coach of the two-time defending national championship Tigers. "But Theresa has a knack for doing that. She scored the overtime goal in the championship game last year. She's somebody that you can count on."

For most of the game, the Penn State defense was able to contain the attacker despite being without its best defensemen and senior captain Jackie Sherman because of a prior injury.

"[Sherry] was quiet for a lot of the game," Penn State head coach Suzanne Isidor said after the game. "She is tough to defend. I think we did a good job, but she really came up big at the end," Isidor said.

Sailer agreed.

"[Penn State] was doing a good job on her early in the game," she said. "And she just knew that we needed her to step up, and she did."

Sherry was a first-team All-America selection the past two seasons at Princeton.

She led the team last season with 46 goals and 52 points.

Sherry was complimented by second-team All-American junior midfielder Elizabeth Pillion in the latter part of the game.

Pillion assisted on Sherry's first goal, then scored the next one 45 seconds later to put the Tigers up by two goals.

They never looked back.

"The big time players step up in crunch time," Isidor said.

Sherry, with her three goals, is now tied for the team lead in that department with junior midfielder Lindsay Biles, who each have recorded 15 on the season.

Pellion finished the game with two goals and two assists. She now has nine goals and six assists on the season.

"When the game's on the line, you want your great players to take over," Sailer said. "I think especially that Theresa really did that."