It was all the way back in 1991 that the Penn State women's lacrosse team last beat Maryland. The next year, current Nittany Lions coach Suzanne Isidor began her playing career at Penn State.

The curse of Isidor?

Probably not.

Isidor and her team will spend this weekend in North Carolina for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The No. 20 Nittany Lions (2-5) will play No. 8 Maryland (5-2) this evening and No. 14 North Carolina (4-3) on Sunday. Ohio State is the other team representing the Big Ten in the competition this weekend.

Penn State is coming off an 8-5 win over Temple on Tuesday, and is looking to end the 12-game losing streak against Maryland.

"[Maryland] is a great team with phenomenal athletes," Isidor said.

"The last two years have been great games that we lost at the end. Hopefully, this year's game ends great."

Maryland has won four in a row this season, while the Tar Heels have lost their last two.

The Lions have dealt with the turnover bug all season. To win this weekend, Penn State will have to figure out what's going wrong.

"We have to play a very good, very smart game," Isidor said.

"It's all about maintaining our focus and not having lapses that have hurt us."

Isidor's team has also struggled with inconsistent play. In the 13-7 loss against No. 1 Princeton, Isidor said the team played its best game of the season. That wasn't the case in Tuesday's win over Temple.

The 8-5 victory against the Owls in Philadelphia produced what Isidor called one of the worst games of the season.

The rest of the Lions are looking to seniors Katie Jeschke and Katie Hartman for the kind of leadership Penn State desperately needs.

In her two games back after missing four with an injury, Jeschke has three goals.

Hartman has one goal and five assists in the last two games.

"I have confidence that our team is ready," Isidor said. "It's going to take a total team effort. Sometimes, we get a little inconsistent, so hopefully we can play well."

The Lions will be without defenseman Jackie Sherman, who has missed the last two games with an injury.--By Nate Heckenberger