With the season hanging in the balance, Penn State's Kristen Burke raced down the field. While Burke appeared to be running on air, Ohio State defenders looked as if their feet were planted in mud.

Suddenly, Burke was all alone.

It was what every team down by one goal with less than 20 seconds left prays for -- an attacker one-on-one with the opposing team's goalie.

Burke wound her lacrosse stick back and snapped it forward. The crowd and players waited -- and then watched as the ball trickled wide of the goal. As Burke watched the goal sail left of the net, she brought her hands to face, overcome with disbelief that the ball did not somehow end up in the net's webbing.

Maybe it was the most appropriate ending to a Penn State women's lacrosse season in which the team never put together consecutive wins. The Nittany Lions were on the verge of shaking up the NCAA throughout the entire season, but just never had enough to put themselves over the top. After bludgeoning Ohio 16-5 Friday to keep its playoff hopes flickering, No. 9 Penn State (8-8, 5-1 American Lacrosse Conference) dropped a must-win game 10-9 yesterday to No. 10 Ohio State (12-3, 4-1 ALC). All games were held at Jeffrey Field.

"We had our opportunities at the end of the game," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said. "We could've put ourselves back in it, and we didn't."

For the first 15 minutes of the game, the Lions, who came out with an intensity likely fueled by desperation, looked like the much better team. Ohio State had difficulty matching Penn State's aggressiveness and was down 4-0 early in the contest. Shari Maslin added the Lions' next goal and her first of three goals on the day in the 19th minute of the contest to give Penn State a commanding 5-1 lead. It took the Buckeyes only 49 seconds to answer back. Ohio State sophomore Regina Oliver, who came into the game with a team-leading 30 goals, would not be deterred on the possession. The Lions tried to force Oliver out of position, but she remained persistent and slung the ball past Penn State goalie Lee Tortorelli. With the goal, the Buckeyes closed to within three, making an eerie statement that an Ohio State comeback was inevitable.

Before the half was over, Oliver tallied her second goal of the day to bring the Buckeyes to win one goal of a 5-5 tie. Penn State, knowing that its playoff hopes rested on containing Oliver, began to double team the offensive weapon. Doing so, however, opened up scoring opportunities for Ohio State senior Shannon Wilson, who scored a hat trick in a span of less than five minutes in the second half. After the Buckeyes went up 8-6, the Lions would fight back to knot the game twice more. Time ran out before Penn State could mount the ultimate comeback to tie the game and send the game into overtime.

"We were going into it knowing that they [Oliver and Wilson] were going to be the toughest tests for us," Isidor said. "They showed up to play -- they're prime-time players. They have some great moves, they're hard to defend and their shooting is on."

The Lions not only had an NCAA Tournament berth on the line yesterday, but they also had sole possession of the ALC trophy within reach. Penn State is still in the hunt for the ALC Championship, but it will need some help from Ohio this week. If Ohio (5-9, 1-4 ALC) can upset Ohio State Thursday, the Lions will win the ALC. If Ohio loses, Penn State and Ohio State earn a share ofthe conference title.

Penn State senior Colleen O'Hara, who may have played in her last meaningful game as a Lion, is looking no further than the season finale against Delaware next Saturday.

"Basically, we have one game left right now, and we need to win it," she said.

"There's nothing else we can do right now, just win our next game and see what happens with the NCAA pool."