While it may seem strange considering this is only the second conference game of the year, this is a must-win.

The No. 16 Penn State men's lacrosse team (3-2, 0-1 ECAC) travels to Baltimore tomorrow at 1 p.m., to take on conference foe Maryland-Baltimore County (1-3, 0-2).

The Lions are looking to rebound from a bitter loss last week at home to Cornell.

"(Last week) was a reality check," attacker Charlie Perry said. "We thought because Georgetown handled Cornell, and we should have beat Georgetown, we overlooked Cornell."

While the Big Red placed a loss on the scoreboard, it was non-conference, and can easily be equalized with a conference victory against the Retrievers, who have defeated the Lions in the previous two meetings.

"This one is for all the marbles," Penn State head coach Glenn Thiel said.

The Lions must put last weekend's loss behind them and focus on the task at hand against a Retrievers squad who also fell to Cornell 16-4 earlier in the year.

"The guys were down a bit," Thiel said. "They were disappointed with the energy level they performed with early."

Combine a slow start with overlooking a team, and you have a losing formula, something the Lions look to turn around this week.

"Maybe we realize we have to come out with the same energy level no matter who the opponent is," Thiel said.

This week's opponent tied the Lions at 2-4 in conference last season, and plays a couple of different styles, something that could prove beneficial for the Lions.

"This year they seem to be running and pushing the ball, which is our game," Thiel said. "Traditionally they take their time and like to keep possession, much like Cornell did. We have to be ready for either."

Preparation this week has been crucial as the team looks to refocus and turn their season around.

"We must get our heads back on," midfielder Rob Booth said. "Coach has stressed to us to practice like it is a game. We must prepare for game situations."

These include face-offs and groundballs, which hurt the Lions last week along with a sub-par performance at getting shots on net.

These struggles have forced Thiel to think about some possible line-up changes in order to give his team some more firepower.