The Penn State men's lacrosse team felt the wrath of its No. 9 strength of schedule after falling 10 goals short of Notre Dame last Saturday.

But the sour taste of that loss made the Nittany Lions even hungrier for a win against Fairfield tomorrow.

"We are so [mad] from last weekend," captain Edmond Perry said. "We're going to score from the first whistle and fire until the end."

Scoring just 12 goals in two regular season games isn't a concern for the Lions -- yet.

Penn State faced two tough defensive units in its matches against No. 20 Ohio State and No. 11 Notre Dame. The shots were there, quality shots even, but so were two solid goalkeepers.

"In practice, we're able to put the points up," Perry said. "We know we can score. [Notre Dame] just made some unbelievable plays."

No matter the strength of the opponent's defense, Penn State knows five to seven goals per game aren't going to fare well for a win. Penn State men's lacrosse assistant coach Lars Tiffany said the final scores haven't exactly reflected the effectiveness of the offense.

"The offensive result wasn't great but we worked well as a unit and moved the ball well," Tiffany said. "We were happy with the way they played as a unit."

On the defensive end, penalties resulting in man down situations have forced the Lions to play with a disadvantage more than they are comfortable with.

The Irish scored six goals on seven penalties in their 17-goal extravaganza. Two years ago, Penn State ranked first in the nation in man down situations, but that hasn't been the case this year with a relatively new defensive unit.

With senior Rob Bateman nursing a hamstring injury, captain Matt O'Malley and Jesse Tarr are the lone returning defensemen from last year's squad.

"I knew it was coming, but I think it snuck up on me with Bateman not playing," Tiffany said. "I have to do a better job because I have younger guys and I have to give them more attention."

After facing two top 20 teams, Penn State will look to remain undefeated in its three-game series with unranked Fairfield.

"You rally by thinking 'We just played two good teams,' " Tiffany said. "The great thing about sports is there is always next week."