The despair and anger was on all of their faces -- it was the look of another disappointing 90 minutes.

The Penn State men's soccer team came into this season expecting to be a championship team, but on Sunday against Wisconsin they did something championship teams rarely do: lose at home to a team they were favored to beat.

"We didn't play with any urgency," Penn State men's soccer coach Barry Gorman said after the Nittany Lions 1-0 loss. "We wait too long to say, 'we got to start moving, we got to start playing.' "

With the Lions (6-4, 1-1) lacking the intensity needed for an important conference game, the Badgers (7-6, 1-1) would only have themselves to blame had they not won the game.

Multiple times in the first half, Wisconsin was unable to finish quality-scoring chances. On at least two occasions, a Badger player was able to get behind the Penn State defense to the point where only a great save by Penn State goalkeeper Matt Novchich prevented the go ahead goal.

Penn State will need more organization in the midfield and on defense to stop passes from getting through the defense.

"[The problem] was the backline, and the midfield was not putting enough pressure on the ball," Lions defender Anthony Calvano said.

"[Wisconsin] midfielders had enough time to make good passes and put the ball through. We have to mark-up on defense and have more pressure on the ball in the midfield; otherwise, it's easy enough for them to find the passing lane."

After looking listless in the scoring third for most of the game, Penn State closed the game with a furious offensive attack, but by then, the Badgers had dropped most of their midfield back on defense preventing the Lions from getting many open looks at the goal.

"I looked at the clock and it wasn't until the 26th minute that we started getting the ball in the box and getting some opportunities," Gorman said.

Giving up a goal isn't anything new for the Lions; the combination of youth and injuries to key players has made the defense a work in progress since the start of the season. The Lions, a team overflowing with offensive weapons, are more alarmed by their failure to answer an opponent's goal with one of their own -- something they have been able to do for the better part of this season.

"I had chances that I could have finished the whole game, but I didn't finish," junior forward Chad Severs said. "They got the goal -- which has been happening all season -- but it's our job to score and we got shut down today -- particularly me.

"I'm not happy with my play today."

Penn State has made a habit of depending on Severs scoring, but the Lions problems go far beyond one single player.

"[The players] don't come ready to play," Gorman said. "With the players on this team we should be attacking more and creating more scoring opportunities."