All season, the seemingly cursed No. 18 Penn State women's lacrosse team (2-8) has been chasing a white rabbit. Every game it gets away by one goal.

The Nittany Lions have rarely looked as bad as their record might indicate. Pollsters have taken notice of this, making the Lions the only team with a losing record in the top 20. They've hung with almost every team they've played, which includes six top-10 squads. However, a close loss is still a loss and the Lions have had their share.

After 10 games, Penn State has already lost as many one-goal games, four, as it did all of last season. Three of those losses came to top-10 teams, including No. 1 Princeton, No. 3 Maryland and No. 4 Loyola.

"They're the top-ranked teams for a reason and we can't keep digging ourselves into a hole," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said.

Despite the dismal record, Penn State still has a shot at making the NCAA tournament. The Lions have played only one game in American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) competition. Though that loss came against No. 10 Vanderbilit, 16-12, the Commodores fell to No. 9 Johns Hopkins on Sunday, which means the Lions could still win the conference and receive an automatic bid to the tournament.

Penn State will start conference play again on April 17 against No. 13 Northwestern, and end it on May 1 against Johns Hopkins. To have a chance at the title, a victory over the Blue Jays is mandatory.

After playing such a difficult schedule early, the Lions say that the lessons learned in the losses will get them over the hump.

"We play so much better against the top teams," senior Stephanie Curnoles said. "It brings out the best in us. We know we've got to be up for all these top teams and we're going to knock one of them off."

Slow starts have hurt Penn State this season. In its eight losses, Penn State has been outscored 51-34 in the first half. The Lions are then forced to play flawlessly in the second half.

The Lions have been able to make a run in most second halves, but just cannot get away with the early mistakes and turnovers that plague them.

The remaining seven games include only three ranked opponents, although one of the team's is No. 2 Georgetown. Though the first month of the season was tough, Isidor's says this team is the best she's had in her four years here, and may have a late run in it.

"I still hold to my statement that this is the best team I've ever coached as far as talent, as far as chemistry and as far as work ethic," Isidor said. "The 2-8 record is disappointing, but we're still capable of winning. We could win the rest of our games if we just pull together and clean up the little things. We're not gonna eliminate all mistakes, but we can try and minimize them."

Up to this point, the Lions' best games have been losses. Moral victories aren't going to get this team into the tournament; the seniors on the team are well aware of that.

Jeschke, who missed four games this season due to injury, realizes that this is her last chance to get back to the tournament after making it her freshman year. The injury won't be a factor in proving that the No. 10 preseason ranking was no fluke.

"[The injury] doesn't even bother me anymore. This is my senior year and I'm not going to get this back," Jeschke said. "[The season] has been disappointing because the games have been so close. We know our potential. Our record doesn't show how good we are."