In the six regular-season losses last season, the No. 17 Penn State men's lacrosse team lost by a total of just nine goals, including one-goal losses to ranked foes Notre Dame and Cornell.

So when No. 20 Ohio State stormed back -- almost literally amidst 30-degree weather and falling snow at North Turf Field in Columbus -- to tie the score at 4-4 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Nittany Lions had to have a sense of "here we go again."

However, unlike last season, the Lions responded as attacker Greg Hale scored the game-winning goal at the 5:53 mark and the Lions held on from there, defeating the Buckeyes 5-4 on Saturday in their first regular-season game.

"I was extremely happy with the team because there was really a lot of energy," Penn State goaltender Josh LaGrow said. "It was just a great defensive and team effort overall. We all just played a great game."

Showing the form that earned him the starting spot in net, LaGrow made 14 saves in his first regular season start. He faced a relentless attack from the Buckeyes, who threw 33 shots at the net, 18 on goal.

"We got by with great play by our goalie," senior captain Edmund Perry said.

"He looked like the All-American goalie [Chris Garrity] that we had last year.

After allowing two goals in the first quarter, the Lions shut out Ohio State over the following two, and held the Buckeyes to just one shot in the second.

Meanwhile, the Lions attack got things rolling when Will Jones scored an unassisted goal to tie the game at 2-2, and Nate Whitaker scored with 2:52 left before halftime to give the Lions one goal lead.

Senior Charlie Perry scored an unassisted goal late in the third quarter, the lone goal of the quarter, setting the stage for the final quarter, as the Lions held off the Buckeyes with some solid defense in the last five minutes and a clutch goal by Hale.

"There was a whole lot of energy and intensity," LaGrow said. "The defense was solid."

All day the statistics seemed to contradict the final score, as the Lions were outshot 18-12, took more penalties, 5-1, and lost 8-5 in the faceoff department.

However, the Lions got it done in one of the departments that mattered most, ground balls, 20-16, and in the department that does matter the most, the scoreboard.

Which is something that they didn't do last season.

How times have changed, at least for this weekend.