It looks like the Penn State men's soccer team will have to wait yet another year to win a Big Ten championship.

The Nittany Lions' hopes for a 2001 Big Ten Tournament crown came to an abrupt end on Friday in Wisconsin, as the Nittany Lions were upset by Michigan State 2-1 in the semifinal round in Madison, Wis.

"I thought we played well enough to win," Lions' head coach Barry Gorman said. "But we were unlucky."

Luck has not been with the Lions for quite some time, at least not when it matters most. Last year, a talented Lions squad — minus star midfielder Ricardo Villar, who was redshirted because of injury — suffered a disappointing double-overtime loss to Ohio State in the 2000 tournament finals.

With Villar healthy this season, 2001 was supposed to be the Nittany Lions' year. Nearly all observers picked the No. 2 seed Lions to advance to this year's championship game and take on a powerful Indiana squad that is ranked fourth in the nation.

Following a convincing 2-0 win over Northwestern in the first round on Thursday, it seemed as if the Lions were well on their way to getting another shot at the championship.

At least it seemed that way.

The Lions got even closer to that elusive Big Ten title in the first period against the Spartans on Friday. Villar, named last week as a first-team All-Big Ten selection, opened the game scoring on a penalty kick at 15:16. The Lions seemed well on their way to advancing to the finals, but it wasn't meant to be.

"We pretty much had control of the game," Villar said. "We were up 1-0 and fell apart."

The turning point may have been a red card called on Lions' junior goalkeeper Ryan Sickman after he played a ball with his hands outside of the box as a charging Spartan player attempted a shot. Sophomore keeper Eric Earnhardt entered as Sickman's replacement, and the Lions also had to play the remainder of the game a man short. The penalty proved to be devastating.

"(Michigan State) celebrated like it was a goal," Villar said. "They didn't have anything going, and all of the sudden the momentum changed."

The Spartans quickly took advantage of the shorthanded Lions, tying the score just under two minutes into the second period on a goal by the Spartans' Steve Arce. Michigan State struck again twenty minutes later, as Thomas Trivelloni put the Spartans ahead 2-1.

"We had to regroup," Villar said. "They kept momentum and we didn't. We needed to raise the intensity being a man down, but we didn't."

The Lions had several chances to even the score, firing off eight shots in the second half, but could not capitalize. The Lions out-shot the Spartans 17-7 for the game, including five shots by Villar and four by his fellow co-captain and midfielder Derek Potteiger, but found the net only once.

Now, Villar, Potteiger and their fellow seniors will have one last shot at winning a championship when selection for the NCAA Tournament begins on Nov. 19. But with their hopes for an extended season resting in the hands of the NCAA selection committee, the No. 11 Lions hope it comes down to wins and losses, and not luck.

"Now we have to see how things pan out," Gorman said. "We hope we have done enough."