Junior starting goalie Josh LaGrow trotted back onto the field with 4:57 left in the final quarter of last Tuesday's game against Bucknell, having just watched Bucknell's Brian Gargan beat backup goalie Mike Stoltz to cut the Penn State lead to 11-7.

Seconds later after gaining possession, Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel signaled for timeout. The Penn State men's lacrosse team (5-5, 0-2 ECAC), which had rattled off seven goals to start the game and had watched its lead swell to eight goals at the end of three quarters, had just given up four straight goals.

Coming out the timeout, the Nittany Lions quickly turned the ball over. However, sophomore John Eremus stole the ball back in front of the Lions bench, and after cycling the ball briefly, Nate Whitaker struck the dagger from in close, securing a closer-than-it-should-have-been 12-7 win.

In putting together consecutive wins for the first time this season while picking up its first win at home, Penn State played stellar for three quarters. However, if the Lions play tomorrow like they did in the final quarter, they know they will be in trouble when they face No. 9 Rutgers (7-3, 0-0 ECAC).

"We got to be a little smarter at the end of the game," Thiel said. "You're not going to beat a Rutgers if you make the mistakes you do down the stretch."

The Lions took care of the first two games of the three-game stretch in just seven days with an increased emphasis on the transition game, spearheaded by, of all people, LaGrow, whose accurate outlet passes led to several good scoring chances. And for the first time the Lions looked to be playing with the urgency of a team fighting for a NCAA berth.

"We'll just keep harping on the guys to continue the energy and the effort that we had for those first three quarters," he said.

It didn't hurt that the Lions jumped out to their second-biggest lead this season, led by two goals from Eremus.

The sophomore, who has 13 goals on the year, was the star Tuesday, tallying three goals and creating several more chances. The team as a whole seems to be finding its rhythm, scoring 28 goals in the last two games after averaging eight goals prior to that.

But the Scarlet Knights present the most formidable task to date this week. However, they also are the biggest opportunity for the Lions to put that standout win on their resume heading into tourney time.

On Tuesday, Penn State defender Matt O'Malley was able to neutralize the nation's leading scorer, Bucknell's Chris Cora. He will likely need to do to the same with Rutgers Delby Powless (29 goals) to slow down the Scarlet Knights' strong attack.

Then again, the Lions know that if they don't play a complete game, winning the game -- and earning a NCAA berth -- will be in serious jeopardy.

"It should be a great game but against Rutgers you got to play four great quarters," Tiffany said.