With a minute remaining in the second overtime, the tag team of Steph Curnoles coupled with the emotion and aggravation of four one-goal losses tackled teammate Shari Maslin to the ground.

The Penn State midfielder had finally put the ball in the net after her previous three shots were stopped. With all the passion of her team swarming her, all she was thinking about was the time left on the clock.

"We still got a minute left," Maslin yelled.

However, when Lee Tortorelli stopped Katie Spofford's shot with 27 seconds left, No. 18 Penn State (3-8) had finally got that monkey off its back.

The Nittany Lions won 9-8 in double overtime last night at Penn (6-5), in an intense and breathtaking game.

"You would think that we just won the national championship," attacker Emily Chambers said. "It's huge. It feels good to finally win a close game."

Penn State was coming off a tough 10-9 loss to Loyola on Saturday. The Lions made it a point to come out fast and determined, and built a 4-1 lead 10 minutes into the first half.

Penn then came back with two goals to make it 4-3 at halftime.

"We came out really strong. We got a lot of shots early and controlled the possession for most of the first half," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said. "[The second half] just became a battle. Each of us had a lot of opportunities."

Penn scored the first three goals of the second half to go up 6-4. Penn State responded with three of its own, two by Kristen Burke. The rest of the game was back and forth and the score remained knotted at 8 for the final seven minutes of the game.

The first overtime lacked goal scoring, but when the second overtime came around, Penn State came out with an intensity not to lose another tight one.

"We were flat out tired of losing," Isidor said. "We were not going to lose this one. It was flat out desire that won this game."

The Lions were out-shot 29-23, and had more turnovers, 15-9, but their will to win gave them the edge.

Freshman Karen Long led the Lions with four goals and both Burke and Lori Havrilla had three. Maslin's had two but her second is the biggest goal of the season for the Lions so far. Tortorelli came up with 11 saves.

As her team came off the field Isidor gave them a sarcastic comment, "It looked like you guys wanted to win."

With 10 days between their next game, the Lions got a much-needed win heading into conference play. For the first time all year a one-goal loss was not an option.

"You could tell from the way we stepped out there [in overtime]," Isidor said. "We were not to be denied. It was the most intense we've been all year."