Only one thing stands between the Penn State men's soccer team and a win against Bucknell today.

Penn State.

The Nittany Lions have been beating themselves over the past six games, in which they've gone 1-3-2. Sluggish play and mental mistakes have plagued them since a scoreless tie against George Mason in late September.

"I think we've been beating ourselves by playing down to the level of teams," midfielder David Walters said.

"Maryland's a good team and we stepped up our level. And then against a weaker Ohio State team, we played down to their level and let them stay into the game."

Of course, the Lions will have an opportunity to redeem themselves with a convincing win over a shaky Bucknell (4-7-1) squad 7 p.m. today at Jeffrey Field.

"When we saw they had beat Maryland 4-1, we thought maybe their guard would drop a little bit," Bisons coach Brendan Nash said. "But with a 3-0 conference loss, we know they're not going to overlook us. This is the toughest match-up we've had."

And it seems to be the Lions' easiest.

While Penn State coach Barry Gorman refuses to take Bucknell for granted, the fact of the matter is that the Bisons aren't a very good team -- even for the Patriot League.

Nevertheless, that didn't prevent Bucknell from upsetting the No. 2 team in the nation last year when it edged out Maryland, 1-0.

The unranked Lions are looking to avoid a similar letdown.

"I think it's one of those situations, when you lose as we did on Sunday, that the players can't wait to get back on the field," Gorman said. "The team has to remain focused on this particular game because, from this point on, the games only get bigger and tougher regardless of the opponent."

Bucknell is hoping its luck will change for the better by sitting a two-time all-conference goalkeeper in favor of a freshman, Joey Kuterbach, who has thoroughly impressed Nash.

"Joey's been outstanding in training, and we decided it was time to make the change," he said. "He'll be our starter from here on in."

Kuterbach has only played in three games and started once -- but he has a 2-0 record in that span.

Overall, it will be interesting how Penn State responds after Sunday's disappointing 3-0 loss that Gorman labeled as "pathetic."

Gorman initially stated that the team was going to practice for 90 minutes immediately following the game, but later reconsidered and simply had the Lions stretch and cool down.

"That was out of line," he said. "I was frustrated because I feel like if we're going to play on Jeffrey -- and it's a privilege to play in front of fans who come out on a miserable day -- our players should give them something to warm themselves."

True, the 673 fans in attendance didn't have much to cheer about Sunday -- but today's a different story and, hopefully, a different Penn State team.