This weekend the No. 10 Penn State women's lacrosse team will face No. 2 North Carolina (10-1) today and No. 3 Maryland (9-1) on Sunday at Holuba Hall in the ALC/ACC Challenge in what are two of the most critical games of their season.

The Nittany Lions are hoping to rebound from their worst loss of the season, a 16-5 loss to No. 11 Penn on Tuesday that saw a lack of communication and leadership on both sides of the ball, as well as uncharacteristic turnovers from senior leaders.

"We were all disappointed and angry after Tuesday's loss," head coach Suzanne Isidor said. "However we all realized that we needed to focus our attention back on the games ahead of us."

Junior midfielder Jessi Lieb came off of the field after the loss to Penn feeling the same way.

"This loss felt different," Lieb said. "After getting killed, I not only felt angry but embarrassed by our play. However, now it is our job to show ourselves and others that we can go out and compete with the tough teams."

After the team's loss on Tuesday, Isidor made sure to talk to her players so she could be assured that everyone on the team was on the same page and looking forward instead of backward.

"Being able to vent was so important," senior attacker Lindsay Dutch said. "It allowed us to talk about the problems we had in the game and make everyone feel better and focus on the next few games."

With Nos. 2 and 3 in the country this weekend, and No. 1 Northwestern the following Saturday, the Lions will come up against tough competition that will show how much they want to see the postseason.

Needing to win at least one of the next three games to have a legitimate chance of reaching the NCAA tournament, this next stretch of games could make or break their season.

"These next few games are so important to our season," sophomore midfielder Kerry Shea said. "We just have to realize that we have to be ready and go out and play our game."

With such a short two-day transition to focus on the Tar Heels and Terrapins, it is tough for the team to feel fully prepared. However, a number of Penn State's players said they have a good game plan and are ready for whatever happens.

Since being defeated by the Quakers the Lions have made sure the past two days to focus on aspects of their game that were problems on Tuesday.

"We made sure to focus on our one on one defense and our movement when we are on the attack," Lieb said. "We also tried to focus on the little things like stick work and ground balls."

The Lions believe that focusing on what plagued them against the Quakers will prove to help them succeed against the Tar Heels and Terrapins this weekend.

"We want to come out and win both games this weekend, however I will be happy with our team win or loose if we can walk off the field believing we did everything we could to win," Isidor said.