Jackie Sherman paced the sideline with her coach Suzanne Isidor, and assistant coaches Tara Hohenshelt and Andrea Hanley.

The Penn State women's lacrosse team was losing to Loyola Saturday and Sherman was out of the lineup with a back injury for the fifth consecutive game. However, the injury didn't stop her from acting like an assistant coach and encouraging her teammates in what was almost an improbable comeback.

"It's been frustrating for her to be out of the lineup, but she's been a great presence off the field," Isidor said. "She provides valuable insight and her teammates really look to her for guidance."

Sherman will be on the sideline once again when the No. 18 Nittany Lions (2-8) take on Penn (6-4) tonight at 7 at Franklin Field. Isidor said the team hopes to have Sherman back against Northwestern next weekend.

In its first 10 games, Penn State has endured a flurry of close losses to top-ranked teams. Saturday's loss to Loyola was no different, as the Lions battled back from a four-goal deficit only to lose 10-9.

"The Loyola loss was heartbreaking, but it got the team fired up," Isidor said. "They're tired of losing and now they're just mad, which I think is a good thing."

To break its three-game losing streak, Penn State will have to contend with a Penn team that beat the Lions 13-9 last year. In that game, Lindsey Cassidy dominated, scoring seven goals to spark the Quakers. Although three other players on the Penn team have more goals than Cassidy this season, Penn women's lacrosse coach Karin Brower said Cassidy is always a threat to score.

"She has deceiving speed, a nice shot and can go left or right, which is a tough thing to defend," Brower said.

Isidor said the Lions probably won't do anything special to stop Cassidy, but will simply match up with her and try to stop her with solid team defense.

As for the Lions scoring attack, the team worked on its transition game this week in practice. Often this season, the Lions have committed turnovers late in games, which have disabled them from getting much needed scoring opportunities. Isidor said the team doesn't want to rely on transition opportunities, but those opportunities certainly can help.

"It's always nice to get goals in transition, because I think it pumps everyone up, but we're definitely capable of scoring in a settled attack also," she said.

A win against Penn would serve to boost the Lions' confidence, as four of the team's next five games are against ALC opponents. There will be no room for error in the ALC, as one close loss would mean a seat at home during the NCAA tournament.