A lot of teams can play with intensity for a portion of a game. It's being unable to sustain that fire which ultimately does them in.

The No. 9 Penn State women's lacrosse team fell victim to exactly that this weekend, as it saw its playoff aspirations drive off on a bus headed for Ohio State. What started out promising -- the Nittany Lions jumped out to a 4-0 lead -- turned into a collapse as the Lions were not able to sustain that level of play the rest of the way.

"The first 15 minutes we held them, but we had possession, we didn't have to play defense," Penn State women's lacrosse coach Suzanne Isidor said. "Then we started making some mistakes on the attacking end, turning the ball over and giving them the momentum."

Once Ohio State took the momentum, it would not let it go, as most successful teams do. The Buckeyes established control thanks to an aggressive defense, which stymied the Lions' offense the rest of the way. While the Buckeyes were getting out and chasing whomever carried the ball for Penn State, the Lions were taking a more laid-back approach on defense.

The Lions were playing off their offensive assignments, and waiting for their players to challenge. The worst came with about 15 minutes remaining, when the Buckeyes were up by two and content on running out the clock. The Lions repeatedly stood waiting for the Buckeyes to make the first move, instead of playing an aggressive and attacking style.

"It was a hard-fought game, everyone played their hearts out," goaltender Lee Tortorelli said. "Everyone was just frustrated to be down."

The combination of frustration and easy-going defense was one that ultimately did in the Lions on Sunday, and in all likelihood did in their postseason hopes as well. For the three seniors, seeing these hopes fade away proved difficult, to say the least.

"We knew it was going to be a battle when we got here, and it was a battle," distraught senior Colleen O'Hara said. "But I wish it would have turned out differently."

The Lions had their chances late in the game to force overtime, but failed. Looming large was the fact that the Lions had that four-goal lead early on, and let it slip.

"We had a four-goal lead and we could have held on to that, and not made it come down to the end," Isidor said. Ultimately for the Lions, the game did come down to the end, where they failed to execute to perfection, which did them in.