Despite outscoring No. 9 Massachusetts 8-5 in the second half of its game Saturday, the Penn State men's lacrosse team left Garber Field in Amherst with a 10-9 loss and the sour taste of frustration in their mouths.

After the Minutemen stormed out of the gate in the first half, the Nittany Lions faced a 6-2 deficit with 13:28 left in the third quarter.

The Lions staged a rapid comeback with four goals in less than five minutes for a 6-6 score, but UMass tacked on two more to leave the third quarter with a 8-6 lead.

Minuteman midfielder Don Little opened up the fourth quarter scoring with his second goal to give UMass a 9-6 advantage.

Nittany Lion junior attacker Will Driscoll cut that lead to two, but senior attacker Rich Kunkel answered seven seconds later with his second goal to give UMass a three goal edge with 11:38 to go in the game.

The Lions got back in it with two goals in eight seconds, trimming the deficit to one with 7:33 left. But with four penalties in that period, they had only one sustained possession near the goal, and never managed to tie the game.

The Minutemen ran out the clock for the victory.

"The guys gave a great effort in the second half," Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said. "(UMass) just came out and ran all over us early. I don't know why we didn't come out and play with the fire UMass did.

The one goal loss was the second straight for the Nittany Lions (3-4, 0-3 in the ECAC) after an 8-7 loss to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County last weekend. Penn State also lost a close game 10-8 to Notre Dame.

"It's just another tough one-goal loss," defensive coordinator Lars Tiffany said. "It's really frustrating, because we're just a couple goals away from being 6-1."

The game featured a fantastic display of goaltending. Nittany Lion senior goalie Matt Vallone kept his squad in the game with 22 saves, but Chris Compolettano got the victory for UMass with 18 of his own.

Driscoll got his second straight hat trick and his fourth of the year with four goals to give him 20 on the season.

"I couldn't expect any more from Will Driscoll," Thiel said. "He's far and away our most improved player physically, and he's using that added athleticism to score goals."

Sophomore midfielder Rob Booth had two goals. Midfielders Sean Droogan, Randy Kleinman and Michael Kern scored a goal each.

The Nittany Lions will have to use the frustration as fuel, because they have no chance to recover with No. 14 Hobart visiting Happy Valley Saturday.

"It just gets harder," Thiel said. "We don't have any breathing room, we just have to go out and do it."