Back in February, tonight's game between No. 19 Penn State (4-9, 1-2 American Lacrosse Conference) and Ohio State (4-8, 1-3) looked as though it would determine the conference title.

Penn State was ranked 10th in the preseason polls, right behind the ninth-ranked Buckeyes. Things have not gone as planned for either team this season, and a once-crucial matchup is now just a game for pride, because the winning team will be in fourth place in the conference.

Coming off its biggest win of the season, a 10-7 victory against No. 3 Georgetown on Wednesday, Penn State will look to carry its momentum into the weekend for a pair of games in Ohio.

The Nittany Lions are also looking to win their first back-to-back games since the end of the 2002 season. They head to Columbus tonight for a game, which will be televised on CSTV at 7 p.m., and wrap up the weekend at Ohio University (5-6, 1-2) on Sunday.

"We finally put together a full game [against Georgetown]," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said. "Our goal now is to win back-to-back. It won't be an easy game. Ohio State and Penn State always go after each other hard."

While Penn State is coming off its high from Wednesday, Ohio State and Ohio are both mired in losing. Ohio State has lost two straight, and five of six. Ohio has lost three in a row.

Isidor hopes her team will have enough energy to make it against Ohio, as Georgetown and Ohio State will have taken a lot out of the squad.

"[The Georgetown game] was fun," Isidor said. "But we put it all on the field. Ohio State is gonna be another tough game and hopefully we'll have enough left in the tank for Sunday."

Sophomore Lori Havrilla has been the offensive leader for the Lions all year. She currently has team-highs in goals (27) and points (37). Havrilla and the rest of the offense will look to exploit the Buckeyes' goalie-by-committee system. All season the Buckeyes have used two goalies in games, with Kim Hastings as the starter. Hastings has a goals-against average of 10.77, and backup Taryn Bowen's is worse at 11.13.

The Buckeyes will look to counter their flaky goaltending with a fast and aggressive offense.

Junior Regina Oliver leads her team in goals with 18.

"Ohio State is always aggressive both physically and emotionally," Isidor said. "It's gonna be a matter of which team shows up for 60 minutes and plays more consistently."