When it first happened, it was mere minutes into the game.

After making a sliding save on a series of shots by the Penn State field hockey team, Bucknell goalkeeper Liz Jordan picked herself off the ground and got ready for more.

And more is exactly what she got.

Despite a valiant effort by Jordan that saw her stop 26 of Penn State's 28 shots, the No. 8 Nittany Lions (13-3, 3-1) beat an overmatched Bison (8-5, 4-1) squad 2-0 last night at Bigler Field.

The Lions' second goal was scored with less than a minute to go in the game. Karin Grap rebounded a Heather Conroy shot off of a penalty corner.

Until that point, Bucknell still had a chance to win -- and they had Jordan to thank. Twenty-six is a lot of saves.

"I kind of black out when I'm playing. Nothing really stands out," Jordan said when asked if any of her many saves stuck out in her mind.

"It's kind of a job to be a target."

And there's no other time when a goalkeeper is more of a target than on a penalty corner -- which Penn State attempted 16 times.

Both of Penn State's goals were the result of penalty corners -- the first scored by junior midfielder Michele Rigby when she followed up a series of shots at Jordan. Not that Penn State field hockey coach Charlene Morett is completely satisfied with the team's performance.

"We played with intensity, but we got a little careless inside 25 yards," she said. "We knew [Bucknell's goalkeeper] was strong. But, we thought, with the caliber of people we have shooting, we could adjust to that. We didn't pick up loose rebounds."

The Lions will need to sure those areas up as they prepare to face perhaps the most critical stretch of their schedule. In the next two weeks, Penn State will face No. 6 Michigan State and No. 5 Michigan.

Morett said that given the Lions' performance last night they will have to focus on corner execution and keeping the field spread before facing the two Big Ten power houses from the Great Lake State.