Cha-cha-cha changes. . .

After the Penn State men's soccer team's second loss in four days, with the latter coming in an emotional loss to Big Ten-rival Indiana on Friday, coach Barry Gorman made various position changes for Sunday's game against South Carolina.

Gorman moved midfielder Nathaniel Krumpe into the backfield for defender Chris Stout who took on the role of striker after contributing his first goal of the season against Indiana.

That change yielded mixed results on Sunday.

Though Stout was able to get off three scoring opportunities in the game, Krumpe made a turnover in the Penn State penalty box that resulted in the lone goal in South Carolina's 1-0 win over the Lions.

The loss, paired with the two other losses during the week, caused the National Soccer Coaches Association of America to drop Penn State from No. 2 to No. 17 in the nation.

The other, and more important change, was the pulling of Ryan Sickman from the goalkeeper spot, which he had occupied for every minute of this season prior to Sunday, in favor of freshman Eric Earnhardt.

Gorman said that Sickman was pulled because he had given up five goals in the two prior games.

He expects Sickman to be back in the lineup, but the redshirt sophomore will have to battle for his place like everyone else does.

The 13-year coach also added that the changes weren't necessarily a result of the losses during the week, but was something the team has been working on in practice.

"Sometimes people who don't know will interpret those as mass changes," Gorman said.

"That's just the flexibility of our squad. People are scouting us so we have to give them different looks."

Sophomore midfielder Brent Jacquette, who contributed an assist in the loss to Indiana, thinks the position changes are good for the team and they keep him and his teammates on their toes.

"Sometimes people get so compliant with their positions that they think they have the position locked up," Jacquette said.

"This proves that no one has a set position on the team."

The next task for the Lions is to overcome the losses and prepare for this weekend as they travel to Evanston, IL for a match with Northwestern on Friday and then to Madison for a showdown against Wisconsin on Sunday.

Jacquette says that despite the losing streak, the team isn't going to let the losses affect it and that the team just has to go out and work harder.

Gorman also remains calm recognizing the team's need to work in practice and get the players prepared for this weekend.

"We need to go back to the drawing board and look at what we're doing," the coach said.

"It's a matter of us plugging away, refining what were doing, getting people healthy and sharp and coming out with guns blazing."

If the guns are blazing this weekend, the Lions should have a chance to change their three-game losing streak.