The No. 10 Penn State women's lacrosse team travel to Loyola College this weekend to take on a non-conference opponent.
The Nittany Lions cannot think about last week's loss to open up conference play, as they face-off with Loyola at 3:30 p.m. tomorrow.
"Not dwelling on the past is one characteristic this team has that teams in the past have not," senior defender Renee Cipro said. "We realize what we have to do to change and we go from there without thinking about the past."
For the team to have success against Loyola they are going to have to start out stronger than they did against Vanderbilt. Putting themselves in a hole early against the Commodores, the Lions are looking to come out stronger and quicker so they do not have to work themselves out of a hole again.
The Lions also realize that to come away with a victory they have to come out, play their game and not change the gameplan.
"Against Loyola we have to have a quick start and make sure to dominate on time of possession," head coach Suzanne Isidor said.
After the loss to Vanderbilt, Isidor made sure to focus practice on things that had plagued the team throughout the game, realizing that to beat Loyola certain things hindering the team's success need to be corrected.
"We have made sure to practice on things like ground balls and our basic attack movements because they seemed to be things that hurt us the most in the game against Vanderbilt," Isidor said.
Also throughout the week, the coaching staff made sure to stress practicing on the little things that can lend to success on the field.
"We made sure to work on some of the smaller things that are a big part of the game," junior midfielder Jessi Lieb said. "Things like passing and catching were really stressed this week in practice."
With a tough schedule awaiting the Lions at home against No. 14 Penn, No. 2 North Carolina, and No. 3 Maryland after their game against Loyola, it is important that the team come away with a victory.
"This game is so important," Cipro said. "It is vital to the success of the team and coming up with a win would boost our confidence level for our upcoming games."
