Before the men's lacrosse team traveled to Notre Dame for its season opener, it was concentrating on two things: faceoffs and goaltending. However, it was the defense that failed them yesterday in the 12-9 loss.

"Our defense is supposed to be our strength," Penn State Coach Glenn Thiel said. "We just never got into it."

Besides the difficuties on defense, the team also had problems with Notre Dame's style of play. Although Penn State has played in four scrimmages this season, the Fighting Irish played a more physically demanding game.

"For whatever reason, we did not respond well to it," Thiel said.

Thiel added that the team needs more conditioning to keep up with the faster pace of more aggressive teams such as Notre Dame.

Even though the game was tied, 6-6, at halftime, that score may have been deceiving. The Lions got two goals after an illegal stick penalty was called against the Irish.

"It was never that close," Thiel said of the game.

However, the team was kept alive during the matchup with Mike O'Keefe, Greg Campbell and Rob Warren scoring two goals apiece. Erik Merkel, Greg Jackson and Mike Busza also contributed to offense by scoring one goal each.

Although the Lions may not have won in the final scoring, in faceoffs they were the clear leaders. Notre Dame's only won seven faceoffs, all of which where in the first half. Penn State won twice as many with 14, eight in the first half and six in the second.

Regardless of offensive accomplishments, the defensive breakdowns made goalie Jason Johnson's job more difficult. He had to fend off 43 shots from Notre Dame. Meanwhile the Lions could only manage 26 shots.

"Jason played well," Thiel explained, "but our team on defense was not that great."