Turns out playing Villanova wasn't quite as easy as sophomore midfielder Brian Devlin thought it was.

The Penn State men's soccer team's leading scorer said on Tuesday his Nittany Lions (7-9, 1-4) should beat Villanova by four goals. Instead, the Lions are dealing with the disappointment of 2-0 loss and yet another losing streak.

"We were really slack in the back and they found the open man and capitalized on their opportunities," Penn State men's soccer coach Barry Gorman said.

It sounded like the same old story for the Lions: come to a game expecting to win, play well for long stretches, but ultimately losing by giving up easy chances.

Gorman said the second goal by Villanova senior midfielder Dan Massimini was an especially easy chance. Massimini finished a cross by freshman forward Felix Vincent to put the game away for the Wildcats.

And then there are the veteran leaders Gorman is still waiting to see the kind of production he expects from them -- another familiar story.

"We need certain players to step up when we need them step up, and it's not happening," Gorman said. "But we'll keep plugging."

Though his prediction regarding the game proved to be quite brash, Devlin might be the only player stepping up this year for Penn State. The Philadelphia native was told to look for more scoring chances this year, and he has, scoring nine more points than he did all last season.

Other Lions, like Chad Severs and Brian Walters -- two top scorers from last season -- have 24 and five fewer points respectively, then last season. Scoring is down across the board for this year's Lions.

While Penn State remains hopefully through the ordeal that has become their season, Gorman said at some point, his players' confidence is a point of concern.

"Yeah, I believe it," said Gorman when asked if he believed his team had a shot at winning the Big Ten tournament. "The players have to believe that. The more players lose the more they lose confidence."

Devlin certainly didn't lack for confidence. The problem for the Lions this year is all the confidence in the world still hasn't translated into wins.