For the six seniors on the No. 8 Penn State women's lacrosse team, tonight will be a time to celebrate their careers as Nittany Lions.

They won't have too much time to soak in Senior Night, though, as their American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) rival Ohio State will be looking to spoil the sendoff when it visits Jeffrey Field at 7 tonight for Penn State's regular season finale.

The Nittany Lions (8-5, 0-2 ALC) are still trying to secure a spot in the postseason and would greatly benefit by beating the Buckeyes (7-5, 0-2). A win would end their two-game losing streak prior to heading into next Friday's game against Johns Hopkins

"These next two games are going to determine whether or not we continue on in the postseason," senior midfielder and tri-captain Joanie Plake said.

"We need to take care of tonight and then look toward Hopkins."

The game will have a different feel than Penn State's previous regular season tilts.

Six players, defenders Renee Cipro and Jenn Green, attackers Lindsay Dutch and Karen Long, goalkeeper Cammie Jurkowsky and midfielder Plake, will be honored before the contest. These seniors will be playing their last regular season game at Jeffrey Field.

The emotions are going to be high," Plake said.

"We all spent four years together and have become such great friends ... It's our last game on Jeffrey field. You want to leave it all out on the field since it's your last time."

The Lions began the season by winning six of their first seven games, with two three-game winning streaks in that span. Since then, they've dropped four of six and have had trouble against quality opponents, going 2-5 against ranked teams.

A win against the Buckeyes would be Penn State's first conference victory of the season. The Lions have only two ALC games remaining, including next week's Johns Hopkins matchup.

"We definitely have to beat these two teams and then see where we get seeded in the tournament," Jurkowsky said.

"I definitely think we can do it. We haven't played as well as we are capable of, but if we run into a team like [No. 1] Northwestern or [No. 2] Maryland again, we could give them a run for their money."

The Lions will have to get past Ohio State before they can focus on the postseason.

The Buckeyes have a winning record but have gone 0-5 against ranked teams. Penn State has been victorious the last three times the rivals have recently squared off.

While tonight will mark the last time this group will play together at home in the regular season, Jurkowsky hopes to be back soon when the stakes are higher.

"Hopefully it's not our last home game," she said.

"We plan on making the tournament, so we look forward in that respect. As the last regular season home game, it is pretty emotional."