The No. 19 Penn State field hockey team has quite an identity crisis. It's not of Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde proportions, but confusing nonetheless. You just never know which side is going to show up.

A club that has struggled offensively all season long, the Nittany Lions (9-8, 3-2 Big Ten) erupted for six goals against Northwestern Friday in a 6-3 win against the Wildcats. But the Lions couldn't maintain any momentum and fell to No. 3 Duke (13-3) 4-1 on Saturday.

The weekend leaves the club in the same state it was in before the two games in Evanston, Ill. Against opponents at a similar or lower level, the Lions take care of the business at hand. But when facing other ranked opponents, the Lions are unable to come away with a victory.

"The weekend was so black and white, the first game was awesome, we were playing great, but the other ... we just did not play with enthusiasm Saturday," Penn State coach Char Morett said.

The Lions continued to struggle against upper-echelon opponents, having lost all of their games against fellow ranked teams. Morett is clearly frustrated with the team's missed opportunities.

"I don't know why, if it's something they don't believe they can do, but when it comes time to step up against top-10 teams, we're just unable to do it," Morett said.

That Penn State lost to the No. 3-ranked team in the country might not be shocking, but what is surprising is that the team gave up four goals to the Blue Devils. It was the most goals allowed by the team yet this season.

Not helping the team was the fact that one of its best defenders left the game early with an injury. Defender Molly Schriver was hit in the forehead by a deflected ball 15 minutes into the game. Morett said Schriver stayed in Illinois to get stitches after the game.

The team's alternate persona showed up against Northwestern on Friday.

The Penn State seniors played a big role in the win against the Wildcats as forwards Michele Rigby and Karin Grap found the back of the cage with frequency. Rigby had her second hat trick of the season and Grap scored twice as well.

Never one to take all of the credit, Rigby commended her teammates for her goals.

"It was awesome definitely, but it wasn't really me, it was a total team effort," Rigby said.

Time is running out for Penn State to land a top seed in the Big Ten tournament. The Lions now have two games left in the season before the postseason begins, tomorrow against Bucknell and Saturday against No. 9 Michigan. The Lions' prospects of reaching the NCAA tournament hinge on their performance in this final week.

"We're hoping that if we beat Michigan we could be seeded third [in the Big Ten tournament], which would match us up against Iowa," Morett said. "And we want another shot against them."

To beat Michigan, the Lions would have to defeat their first ranked opponent of the year. And that all depends on which side comes to play.