If there were any questions as to why Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel made a converted midfielder the leader of his attack line, they were answered quickly in the Nittany Lions' game against Notre Dame at Holuba Hall yesterday.

Senior attacker Eric Wood, in his regular season debut at the position, opened up the scoring with his first goal with ten minutes left in the first period. He scored two more within the next four minutes. He scored all four of Penn State's first half goals, and finished the day with five of the Nittany Lions' eight.

"Woody had a great game," Thiel said. "He played so well for this being his first game on the attack line."

Wood's offensive explosion came against Fighting Irish senior goalie Kirk Howell, who stifled the Lions last season in Notre Dame's 10-4 victory.

Wood was also clearly the team's emotional spark. The offensive captain tried to rally his already pumped teammates after each of his goals.

Wood's intensity did end up costing the Lions, however. After his second goal, Wood tried to get the crowd involved by turning to the fans on the sidelines and raising his arms. He received a warning from the referee, who told him not to get the crowd involved. He was once again celebrating after the third goal, and though this time he did not direct it toward the crowd, he was given two minute unreleasable penalty for celebration.

"It just one of those things. We were up two goals with that, and I was trying to get my teammates into it," Wood said. "After the second goal, I was hopping around, and I was trying to get the crowd involved. The ref told me I couldn't do that, and after the third goal, he gave me the penalty and said 'Hey, I warned you on it,' and I said 'warned me on what.' I didn't think I was directing anything toward the crowd, but that's beside the point."

The Fighting Irish capitalized on the penalty, scoring two goals while Penn State was a man down. That would be the difference in Notre Dame's 10-8 win.

"I take full responsibility for that," Wood said. "It's something that should've never happened, and you can be assured that it will never happen again."

The Penn State coaches thought the penalty was a bit too severe for the transgression.

"I think it's a case of the refs trying to send a message that that kind of stuff will not be tolerated," assistant coach Ken Willie said. "It was a very severe message, because its an unreleasable penalty."

"I don't think they should've called it. Emotions were running high, both teams were really excited, and every goal was a big one."

Despite the damaging penalty, Wood's contributions were not forgotten.

"He played exceptional today," Willie said. "He did everything we could've asked for, being a guy that can produce goals and also step up as a leader and pick up his teammates' intensity."