Jay Graham stood on his head.

As the shot left his stick, he was still in an upright position. But as the ball whistled through the air, nestling neatly in the back of the net for one of his four goals, the tri-captain was taken on a tumultuous ride.

Sent hurtling through the air by a UMBC defensman, the attackman was unable to see the completion of his effort. And as his head smashed into the turf at the outdoor field of Holuba Hall, the screaming crowd told him what had occurred.

The goal was only the beginning of a stellar day for Graham, whose offensive exploits helped lead the men's lacrosse team (4-3) to a 15-5 thrashing of UMBC Saturday afternoon.

"I really got layed out after the shot, but it was the one I liked most because it showed that I could take a hit and still put the ball in the cage," Graham said. "As I was in my windup, a kid came through and clocked me. I ended up on my head, but I was just happy it went in."

The goals gave Graham 10 scores for the season, and his three consecutive tallies turned a still competitive game into an insurmountable eight-goal advantage.

"Jay played very well and he's done a good job for us," Coach Glen Theil said. "He's a good solid player who always does what we want him to, and he had a very good game."

Graham was impressed with the level of intensity his team played at, and said that if this high level of concentration continues, Penn State will be successful in the future.

"They were a good team, and we needed to come out as fired up as we did," Graham said. "We didn't have the greatest week of practice, but we were able to rise to the challenge."