The question for Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor going into yesterday's game against North Carolina was how her team would respond to another one-goal loss.

On Friday night, the No. 20 Nittany Lions lost to Maryland 12-11, the team's third one-goal loss of the season. However, Isidor was pleased with her team's effort against the No. 8 Terrapins despite the end result. The Lions looked to carry the momentum from Friday's game into yesterday's match-up with the No. 14 Tar Heels, but Penn State instead was the recipient of a 13-4 drubbing from North Carolina.

"Friday was great. It was the best lacrosse we've played all season," Isidor said. "Today's game was the worst lacrosse we've played all season."

The games against Maryland and North Carolina were part of the ACC/ALC Challenge hosted by the Tar Heels. The losses at Henry Stadium dropped Penn State to 2-7 on the season.

Penn State was shorthanded on the weekend as defender Jackie Sherman sat out her fourth straight game with a back injury. In addition to Sherman, Stephanie Curnoles missed both games with the stomach flu, and Katie Hartman played, but also was sick with the stomach flu.

Despite the injuries, the Lions played well Friday and were down 12-9 with 17:52 remaining in the game. Kristen Burke and Lori Havrilla, who both notched hat tricks for the Lions, each scored to cut Maryland's lead to 12-11 with 14:52 left to play. However, Penn State was unable to find the goal the rest of the way and the comeback attempt fell short.

"We played our best game of the season," midfielder Shari Maslin said. "It hurts when you play that hard and still lose."

Yesterday's game was a different story, as Penn State never had a lead and was down 5-0 less than 10 minutes into the game. Isidor called Penn State's shooting horrendous, but Maslin said the team's shots weren't the major problem.

"They came out strong and we just weren't on the same page," Maslin said. "I don't think it was poor shooting, but we just didn't take as many shots as we should have."

The only good news for the Lions is that only one of their seven losses has come to an ALC opponent. Maslin said the losses are tough to swallow, but the team still has time to salvage the season.