"They completely controlled groundballs on us," Penn State coach Glenn Thiel said. "We couldn't get our guys there fast enough. It seemed like they always had someone there and we didn't."

The last thing Thiel wants to see is his Lions (2-1) having the troubles they did last year getting to loose balls. Ideally, he would like to see that trend turn around before the next game, against Lehigh (1-2) at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Holuba Hall.

At the start of the season, Thiel acknowledged the problem with picking up groundballs last season. On only three occasions did the Lions get to more loose balls than their opponents did. The team's inability to come up with the ball caused Penn State to lose several games last year including a late-season overtime loss to Delaware.

The Lions had an average of 50 percent of groundballs per game last year, but Thiel said the team had worked out the problem, and that the problem was not likely to persist this season. It would have been quite a feat to pick up the percentage enough to rid Penn State of the problem.

And, after gaining 58 percent of groundballs in a 13-8 win over Notre Dame to start the season, it looked as if Thiel had worked his squad into shape. The burst came at a good time for the Lions as the game had playoff implications.

"We did have some problems with groundballs last year, but that was last year," senior attacker Todd Kaiser said after beating the Fighting Irish. "We did really good on groundballs today, and I don't think it should be a problem for this year."

However, that first game has not carried over to ensuing games. In fact, even after Penn State's stellar job on groundballs for the first two games of the season, the bout with Maryland brought its average below last year's shaky figure.

As Penn State plays through more games weighed for the postseason, the team knows it needs to pick up its play. In the loss to Maryland, the Lions were badly outweighed by the Terps' skills on loose balls.

After the game, Penn State senior attacker Chris Schiller said the Lions' troubles stemmed from Maryland's sending of three to four players into each groundball scuffle.

However, Penn State is not likely to see that type of aggression from Lehigh. That's not to say Penn State won't have to work for them, but it should have an easier time getting to loose balls.