"We don't want anymore five-point games," Penn State goaltender Josh LaGrow said. "We'd like to beat Notre Dame by three or four goals."
Not being able to generate offense against Ohio State was the biggest struggle in a matchup that was dominated by the Buckeye's offense. Penn State's inability to clear the ball successfully resulted in a lopsided 33-19 deficit in the shot department.
"Our offense knows they can't bring five goals to the table and win but we have a ton of faith that we'll score more goals," Penn State assistant coach Lars Tiffany said. "We weren't very patient. We played like there was a shot clock, which is our style of play, but we played defense for three minutes and there was no time for a defensive break."
LaGrow was the force behind the Lions' defense, saving 77 percent of the shots he faced. However, Penn State knows it must generate its offense if it wants to restore its "smash-mouth style of lacrosse," as Tiffany refers to the aggressive attack on the goal.
The Lions are optimistic about playing under a roof in South Bend after playing among falling snow and 30-degree weather in Ohio. Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel said that competing in the Loftus Sports Center won't be an easy task for his Lions, considering the narrow field, competitive atmosphere and the strong group of players returning for the Irish.
"This will be a much tougher test because they are better than Ohio State," Thiel said. "If we can get our offense on the page where we think they should be, we should be fine."
