The Penn State women's lacrosse team ended its three game homestand at Holuba Hall yesterday with an 11-4 win over the Colgate Raiders to bring its record to 3-0.

From the first blow of the whistle, it was obvious the Nittany Lions came out on the attack, playing fast and physical on both sides of the ball.

"This was definitely a very physical, aggressive game," Penn State head coach Suzanne Isidor said. "It was a different style of play compared to our last two games, Colgate was aggressive, and the referees were letting us play the game."

The Lions started out on fire offensively, scoring six goals in the first eight minutes of the game, however, after that they did not score again until right before halftime, a 21-minute drought.

While Isidor was not happy about the scoring drought, there was something the coach was even less happy about.

"We have to make better shot selections," Isidor said. "Shooting 11-for-35 is just not acceptable, we have to do better than that in the upcoming games."

While the Lions may have been lacking a level of consistency on the offensive end, defense was another story. Working throughout the week in practice on improving their team defense, the team only allowed one goal in the first half and four overall throughout the entire game.

Winning their first three games of the season is a familiar feeling for the Lions. The team started out 3-0 last year and then went on the road, lost three in a row and finished the season with an 8-8 record.

This Friday the women's lacrosse team will start the beginning of that very same three-game road trip that put a damper on last season. They will face No. 9 Virginia, William and Mary, and finish out with No. 6 Princeton.

"While these few wins have been great, this next weekend we are going to have to prove that we can play with and beat top 10 teams," junior midfielder Jessi Lieb said.

Isidor is quick to remember that the last time Penn State won back to back games against Virginia and then William and Mary was in 1996, 11 years ago.

"Going into these games we have to make sure and continue our strong team defense and communication with each other, and make sure to limit our turnovers and poor shooting," Isidor said.

While the three home games against Delaware, Bucknell and Colgate could be seen as a stepping stone for tougher competition in the upcoming weeks, they were able to help the team improve in all areas.