Mitch Fox/The Hoya Junior midfielder Tracy Weickel and the Hoyas go for their sixth straight victory Saturday.

With only two games left on their schedule, the No. 2 Georgetown women’s lacrosse team is quickly coming to the end of another very successful regular season. The Hoyas continued their success Wednesday night when they defeated the No. 15 Penn State Nittany Lions 18-9. With the win, Georgetown improved to 13-1 on the season.

“It was a really big win for us,” Head Coach Kim Simons said. “Earlier in the year, a lot of times we had a really good performance like Maryland or Princeton and then we faltered the next game. Getting ready for tournament time, you’ve got to put four great games in a row together if you want to win a national championship.”

Senior attack Erin Elbe added five goals to Georgetown’s effort on Wednesday. Junior attack Wick Stanwick and freshman midfielder Allison Chambers each contributed two goals. Senior Chandler Vicchio and freshman Sarah Robinson split the goaltending duties, combining for eight saves on the day

The Lions got on the board first, scoring a goal less than half a minute into the game. It was their only lead of the game, and the Hoyas quickly turned the tables, reeling off six unanswered goals. Elbe scored her first during the run and Stanwick added two, one of which came off a free position shot.

Penn State interrupted the run with one goal to make the score 6-2. Less than a minute later, Elbe responded with a goal of her own. The Lions scored two more goals in the last five minutes of the first half, but Georgetown led Penn State 7-4 going into the break.

“At the beginning of the game we were having great individual defensive efforts, but we still weren’t quite clicking in terms of team defense,” Simons said. “That started to happen in the second half and that really made a difference. When our defense clicks, it really gives our offense a chance to just unleash in terms of going really hard and being able to open it up.”

The Hoyas did just that when they came out for the second half. Georgetown scored its first goal in just a minute and a half. The Hoyas and the Lions traded goals for the next three minutes but the Georgetown defense kept Penn State from getting any closer than a three-goal margin. Capitalizing on its potent offense, Georgetown took off on another run that would not end until they led 15-6.

The Hoyas scored 11 goals in the second half, nine of which came in a period of 17 minutes. During that same stretch, the Lions scored only once. When the smoke cleared, Georgetown was up 18-7 with less than six minutes remaining. Penn State scored two to close out the game, but was never able to mount a serious challenge.

The Hoyas’ success this season is due in large part to the play of senior attack Erin Elbe. For the second week in a row, Elbe was named the Big East Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week, and has been touted all season long as a strong candidate for the Tewaaraton trophy, awarded to the nation’s top collegiate lacrosse player.

“Ever since the Maryland game, something has clicked with Erin. She’s played well for us her entire four years, but for some reason that Maryland game, and then continuing on from there, she’s been playing like a player possessed who will settle for nothing less than a win,” Simons said. “She is playing the best lacrosse of her career, and I think it would be hard to find someone who is playing better than her right now in the country.”

Georgetown plays its final regular season game against Connecticut tomorrow at noon. The Huskies are 8-5 overall and 3-2 in the Big East. Despite the difference in records, the Hoyas say they are not looking to the tournament quite yet.

“Obviously it’s always our goal but we’re just going to focus on UConn right now,” Elbe said. “It’s a Big East game so it’s always huge. Our team takes them very seriously. We played pretty well against them last year.”

Win or lose, the Hoyas will clinch the best winning percentage in the history of the women’s lacrosse program. They are also set to enter the NCAA Tournament with a high ranking, but most importantly are looking to finish their season on a positive note.

“What we’re hoping for on Saturday is a good team effort where we can continue to build on some of the things we’ve been working on all season long,” Simons said. “I told them, Saturday is our last dry run in terms of working things out and getting better; you start the tournament, you have to play each game to win.”

Face-off is set for noon in Storrs, Conn.