Defenseman Ken Wille doesn't exactly get many looks at the cage for the men's lacrosse team. In fact, going into Saturday's game with Maryland-Baltimore County, Wille's jersey number (one) outdistanced his goals (zero).

Now he has a matching set.

The senior's first career goal, combined with the stellar goaltending of Jason Johnson, jump-started the Nittany Lions (4-3) on the way to a 15-5 victory on the Holuba Hall turf.

"It was like a regular clear," Wille said. "I brought it into the hole and no one picked me up."

But Wille's goal, at the 13-minute, 23-second mark of the first quarter, certainly picked up his teammates. The Lion defense turned away UMBC time after time, with Johnson making a number of stellar saves.

"His confidence just rose. That's just a big part of it," Coach Glenn Thiel said of his goaltender.

The game was the Lions' first home game played outdoors. Thiel said the team is able to see the ball better outdoors. And the Lions certainly saw plenty of the ball.

Penn State rumbled to a 8-2 halftime lead and never looked back at the Retrievers, who fell to 4-2 on the season. Johnson finished with 11 saves before being pulled early in the fourth quarter.

"He made all the saves he should have made, and he made some that should have went in," Wille said.

And while Johnson was making the saves, the Lion attackmen were putting the ball in the goal. Jay Graham led Penn State with four goals, while Rob Warren, Erik Merkel, Greg Jackson and Mike Busza had two.

"To score first and to come out with some good goals can really get you going," Wille said of the flurry of goals. "It does just the opposite to the other team."

The game followed a pattern similar to the Lions' win over UMBC last year. The score of that win: 15-5.

"Last year, we jumped on them even more so," Thiel said. "I think it kind of put them down a little bit."

The Lions will look for their fourth straight win when they host Rutgers at 2 p.m. Saturday.