Just a week ago, the Penn State men's lacrosse team was fighting for a bid to the NCAA tournament.

But after falling to Rutgers last Saturday, the Nittany Lions (5-6) practically knocked themselves out of playoff contention. And as cliché as it may seem, tonight's game is about having fun. It's about playing what the Lions hope will be an enjoyable game of lacrosse in warm weather against No. 17 Villanova (10-2) in the Philadelphia area.

"I think [playoff hopes] are out," Penn State men's lacrosse assistant coach Lars Tiffany said. "We just gotta look at each game as an event in itself."

It is an event, of course, that the Lions will go out with the hopes of playing with full intensity and walking away with a win, just like they had intended to every other game this season. Only this time, a tournament bid isn't serving as motivation as it has for the last few games.

"Tournament is kind of a bad word right now," captain Edmond Perry said. "But anything can happen. We just need to keep playing and be more focused on Villanova."

Penn State has won 10 of its 11 matches in its series with the Wildcats. However, in each of the Lions' meetings with Villanova, they have scored at least 11 goals -- something Penn State was only able to do in four games this season.

"We want to push the transition and be aggressive on offense," Tiffany said. "[The Wildcats] are a fast-paced and exciting team."

Tiffany said getting off to a good start will be a key factor in the Lions' offensive scheme in tonight's game. He said Villanova is a patient team, and if it gets off to a good start, the Wildcats have the potential to take complete control of the game.

Villanova is also riding on a wave of confidence when playing on its home turf, considering the Wildcats hold a perfect 7-0 record at home.

But the Philadelphia area is the backyard for many Penn State players as well, making this match that much more exciting.

For now, though, the only thing the Lions are focused on are themselves, not what other teams have to do so they can possibly slip into the tournament. And not what they could have done in the past to make this game more meaningful.

But simply playing this game with the same purpose they would any other -- to win.

"We have to focus on our game plan and our intensity," Perry said. "We can't rely on the other team, we have to play our game."

Last year, Penn State responded to a 1-5 start by winning six of its next seven games.

At 7-6, the Lions made their first-ever trip to the tournament. If the Lions do win tonight's game and their next game, which is against No. 12 Virginia next Saturday, they would end up at 7-6. But considering Penn State is 0-3 in its division, which no longer receives an automatic bid because it consists of only three teams, and because the Lions faced a tougher schedule last season, this year's 7-6 more than likely won't send them to the playoffs.

"We shot ourselves in the foot," Tiffany said. "If we had the energy levels early in the year like we do now, we'd be playing with a much greater sense of purpose. Maybe we got the wake up call too late."