Rarely does a team play against three No.1-ranked teams in one season. It's even less likely that a team beats all three of those top-ranked opponents.

At 5 p.m. today, the No. 8 Penn State women's lacrosse team will attempt to complete the unlikely when it faces No. 1 Northwestern on the road in an American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) match up.

The Nittany Lions (8-3, 2-0 ALC), who hold victories against then-No.1 Virginia and Princeton earlier this season, will look to add Northwestern (12-0, 1-0 ALC) to its list of giant-kills. The Wildcats own the longest winning streak in the country at 12 games, and have won six straight games, including a 16-11 win against No. 2 Duke this past Sunday, since taking over the top rank on March 21.

Both teams are entering the meat of their conference schedules. Today's game is the first of four consecutive ALC games for the Lions and five for the Wildcats. Since the champion of the ALC receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and each member of the conference plays each other just once, the Lions are keeping the game in perspective.

"This game is huge. Everybody's talking about them being No. 1 in the country, but more importantly for us it's a conference game. They're one of the top teams in the conference," Penn State coach Suzanne Isidor said. "Our goal is to win a conference championship. That's what we're really focusing on."

The Wildcats return all but one player from last season's team that defeated the Lions 13-11 in State College. Northwestern went on to win a share of the ALC crown and reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament, where they lost to eventual champion Virginia. The Lions finished 6-11 and failed to qualify for the post-season.

Thus far, both teams have proven they are capable of accomplishing more than last season. Northwestern, in just its fourth year as a varsity program, has yet to lose a game this season. Penn State has beaten three teams from last season's Final Four, two that were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time.

"We're both much better. Northwestern was good last year, but they're an even better team this year and I think we're a much better team this year. Style-wise they play the same style they did last year, but I think they apply more pressure and play a great pressure defense," Isidor said.

The Lions attack will look to continue to score around the 12.31 goals they are averaging per game, good for 10th in the country, against the Northwestern defense, which ranks first in the nation, giving up 6.33 goals per game.

The Wildcats also have the top-ranked offense in the country and feature two of the NCAA's three leading scorers, Kristen Kjellman and Lindsay Munday.

The Lions hope to complete the improbable today, and extend their winning streak against top-ranked opponents to three.